Whats your take on the Microsoft/Novell Partnership?

[ptcruisergt]

Well, for reasons only the moderators may know, this years-old topic is still stickied to the top of the list..

[cbh2000]

You resurrect a 2 year old thread is just to (essentially) say:
"I DON'T CARE!"

... Wow.

Thank you. Now I will reply again.

Actually, it was close to the top of a list of threads, so I assumed that it was recent... I must have somehow been in the "Too Old to Reply" category without realizing it.

[gilboa]

You resurrect a 2 year old thread is just to (essentially) say:
"I DON'T CARE!"

... Wow.

[cbh2000]

I do not care. Period.

Unless Microsoft sues, it is fine with me.

By the way, I agree with the fact that we should not use .NET; .NET stinks.

[gilboa]

There are multiple views on how it can be perceived. Unfortunately, people tend to limit what they want to see instead of seeing the entire picture.

"Seeing the big picture" has nothing to do with it.
It's all a matter of risk assessment.
I asses (with good reason) that a end-of-all-things patent war is bound to happen once Microsoft feels threatened (E.g. if Microsoft's mind-share continues to drop, followed by the market share drop [Like the one Microsoft is experiencing in the private sector]).
I further asses that project such as moonlight and mono will be the first targets in this future Microsoft-led patent war.

Now, if you agree with these two basic assessments than:
A. Novel's cross patent deal can, and will be used by Microsoft to attack the OSS ecosystem.
B. Novel's push to integrate (into GNOME) Microsoft developed technologies such as .NET and Silverlight at the expense (?) of competing OSS technologies can, and will be used by Microsoft to attack other Linux distributions.
C. Novel should have been aware of these predicaments and chose to ignore them - one can only wonder why and to what end.

- Gilboa

[deanjo]

Sigh...
B. It will have huge effect on MS-technology-based projects (Such as mono) that Novel is shoving down deep our throat.

How is it shoving it down anybodies thoat? You have the freedom to choose if you wish to use it or not.

C. By entering such an agreement Novel has helped MS in it's on-going attempts to stifle the OSS eco-system by using the aging-yet-useless patent system. Neither the FAQ nor your argument can change that.

The patent system is the gov't fault. Novell is simply addressing the issue and not ignoring it. Blame the gov't not the company that is following the laws of the land.

I just doubt that these contributions are enough to put a positive spin on Novel's cowardly capitulation in-front of MS' FUD machine.

Novells capitalization on the situation results in more investment into the various projects it sponsors as well. FOSS does see increased funding directly from the deal.


There are multiple views on how it can be perceived. Unfortunately, people tend to limit what they want to see instead of seeing the entire picture.

[gilboa]

Few things:
* FAQ on this is available here
* Novell/Suse has contributed to many projects, including Gnome and kde, they have the copyright to compiz, and xgl(I think)

So unless your pretty much not using network manager, nothing mono related, no samba, not the kde4 live cd, not X(yes they did contribute, even if it was a little), xen, probably as far as the kernel, you're not free of Novell's reach

Sorry to bring back an old thread, there were just too many negative/maybes

Sigh...
A. Having contributed to a GPL project (Say, RedHat's NM) doesn't change the term under-which the project is released. If anything bad happens due to the MS-Novel cross-patent agreement it will have zero effect on such projects.
B. It will have huge effect on MS-technology-based projects (Such as mono) that Novel is shoving down deep our throat.
C. By entering such an agreement Novel has helped MS in it's on-going attempts to stifle the OSS eco-system by using the aging-yet-useless patent system. Neither the FAQ nor your argument can change that.

Yes, Novel is a big OSS contributer - no doubt about it.
I just doubt that these contributions are enough to put a positive spin on Novel's cowardly capitulation in-front of MS' FUD machine.

- Gilboa

[some-guy]

Few things:
* FAQ on this is available here
* Novell/Suse has contributed to many projects, including Gnome and kde, they have the copyright to compiz, and xgl(I think)

So unless your pretty much not using network manager, nothing mono related, no samba, not the kde4 live cd, not X(yes they did contribute, even if it was a little), xen, probably as far as the kernel, you're not free of Novell's reach

Sorry to bring back an old thread, there were just too many negative/maybes

[afterburntdw]

I am glad to see that even some Novell employees don't find the deal palatable. I'm sure that we will see more resignations in the near future. He's absolutely right on the money by suggesting that there is no course of action to redeem themselves in the eyes of the community while the deal is in effect....Perhaps, even if and when it gets canceled, they might never be able to redeem their tarnished image.

It's only my personal opinion, but I think of N + MS as trying everything to skirt the legalities of the GPL2....I have never heard the license issue put as simply as his argument about the MS EULA. Kudos to Jeremy for standing up and doing what he believes is right!

[Michael]

There is yet another repercussion from the MS-Novell patent deal...

The legendary Jeremy Allison (of Samba fame) has resigned from Novell in protest over the Microsoft-Novell patent agreement, which he calls "a mistake" which will be "damaging to Novell's success in the future."

His main issue with the deal, though, is "that even if it does not violate the letter of the licence, it violates the intent of the GPL licence the Samba code is released under, which is to treat all recipients of the code equally." He leaves the company at the end of this month. He explained why in a message sent to several Novell email lists, and the message included his letter to management:

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061221081000710