NEWZ: Microsoft & Novelll Windoze/Linux Blockbuster Deal

[Platform]

The Wall Street Journal reports:

• Under the pact, which isn't final, Microsoft will offer sales support of Suse Linux, a version of the operating system sold by Novell. The two companies have also agreed to develop technologies to make it easier for users to run both Suse Linux and Microsoft's Windows on their computers. The two companies are expected to announce details of their plan today at a press conference in San Francisco.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=167

 

[time]

ale: oke:

 

[Mercutio]

Microsoft also does sales support for Netware and IIRC also Solaris and SCO Unix offerings. At least in the case of Netware, they're actually good at it, too. Basically, Microsoft Engineers go on those jobs to look for places to wedge in Windows solutions, so Microsoft can still benefit from someone who really wouldn't be giving any money to Microsoft.

I know of a couple Novell shops where Microsoft guys set up and supported Groupwise. In one of those cases, the outcome was an Exchange migration.

 

[RWIndiana]

A lot of people think this means Microsoft or Novell can patent code and sue those who use/develop Linux aside from Novell's umbrella. I'm not sure what to think until all the smoke clears.

"The Volnovo pact will mean that non-commercial individual contributors can make Open Source, but if anyone actually uses it for something other than a hobby or a non-profit organisation Vole can bring a software patent lawsuit against them unless they are a Novell customer, he said.

"A logical next move for Microsoft could be to crack down on "unlicensed Linux" and "unlicensed Free Software," now that it can tell the courts that there is a Microsoft-licensed path. Or they can just passively let that threat stay there as a deterrent to anyone who would use Open Source without going through the Microsoft-approved Novell path," Wickline said. "
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35525

 

[Dïscfärm]

BSD never looked better...

 

[Mercutio]

BSD has never really looked "bad".

 

[RWIndiana]

Apparently this agreement is to allow Novell to use Microsoft's patents in their code, thereby achieving better "interoperability" with MS Office formats and such. So while these changes will probably be "open source," no one will be allowed to use them except Novell and SuSE. So IMO this doesn't put BSD in any better position.

Although I used to think of Richard Stallman as a left-wing loon, I think I'm seeing why GPLv3 is a good thing.

 

[CityK]

A lot of spin and rumours generated by this announcement. Given all the unknowns, its hard to say what's what.

However, that said, I'm inclined to think that this is just another stunning example of the poor management at Novell.

I think they dreamt that if they shot themselves in the foot, that they could, in the near future (after a brief recouperation stint), strut across the former battlefield from which they self inflictedly removed themselves. I don't know if they realize this, but while its one thing to have plenty of bandages around to clot the bleeding of the initial wound, its an entirely different thing to also have plenty of anibiotics on hand as well....and I just don't think Novell's MASH unit is that well stocked.

I'm inclinded to agree with Red Hat -- there is going to be one Linux shop left standing - and its going to be them.

 

[iGary]

Novell has been living the past 10 years partially off of its substantial cash deposits that it built up over the 1980s and 1990s. So, this is Novell's biggest chance in a long long time to stop the bleeding and the downsizing.

The SCO battle made Novell realise that *they* were in a better position to be the UNIX/Linux bully than SCO was, since SCO was merely a steward of UNIX licensing rather than an "owner" of UNIX. Now if Novell could somehow make amends with Bill'n'BallmerSoft and swing a long-term deal as good as or better than the one MS did with SCO, they would be at least a profitable enterprise again. Who knows, before you know it, maybe Novell will have enough cash to buy SCO (before M$ tries)!

BSD has never really looked "bad".

As unflattering as Linux has been on the desktop (compared to Windows and Mac), BSD and variants are a laugh for modern desktop deployment. BSD is still all about servers and appliances.