| Novell is not SCO |
Nov. 08, 2006
Novell is not SCO. Novell is not the great anti-GPL. Get over it. I'm getting a little tired of the constant Novell-bashing. Do I think that Novell made a smart long term move by partnering up with Microsoft? No, I don't.
For the record, the only software company that I can think of that has ever partnered with Microsoft and done well is Citrix Systems. And, they did it by acting as if they were a branch of Microsoft.
That is not, I repeat not, the case with Novell.
What Novell is doing is a smart, short-term move. Novell makes a great Linux, but it's not been making great gains to go with it.
Its investors, for those of you who know more about open-source licenses than business, have been very unhappy. How unhappy? They got the CEO and CFO booted earlier this year.
It appears that they've also been successful in getting Novell to fire some employees. They've been wanting Novell to jettison staffers for over a year now.
On top of that, Novell, like, it seems, every other tech company that was around for the go-go 90s, has to audit how it handled its stock options. That led to the company facing NASDAQ delisting. That's bad news for any company.
It's not terrible news, though. After all, it's in the same stock option hot-water with businesses like Apple, Juniper Networks, and Dell. What is really annoying for Novell, though, is that Wells Fargo Bank N.A. has seized upon this to claim that Novell is now in default on $600 million worth of 0.50 percent Convertible Senior Debentures that were due in 2024, and therefore should cough up the cash.
Ouch.
Begin to get the picture now? Novell is cash-rich, but it needed a big deal, and it needed it badly.
So, in the short-term, I think Novell will do quite well with the deal, and I'm not just talking about the cool $348 million from Microsoft. They, like all the Linux companies, needed a way to break into Microsoft offices.
In the long run, Microsoft will shaft Novell. Just ask Stac, Lotus, WordPerfect... oh, wait. Novell is still suing Microsoft for that last one! Could it be that Novell already knows that they're supping with the devil? Why, yes I think they do.
Mind you, I still wouldn't have done it, but I can certainly understand why Novell probably sees this as not only a good deal for the immediate future, but a deal it had to make.
Let's move on to Novell's "sins" against the GPL catechism.
Now, I know lots of lawyers and I'm married to one, but I'm no lawyer. That said, when I first heard that Novell and Microsoft's legal eagles were sure that their patent agreement wouldn't violate the GPL, and in particular section 7, I speculated about how they might be able to pull it off.
My idle thoughts led me to, well, basically, the deal that the two companies came up with. To quote Novell's senior VP and general counsel, Joseph A. LaSala, Jr., "Novell's customers receive directly from Microsoft a covenant not to sue. Novell does not receive a patent license or covenant not to sue from Microsoft, and we have not agreed with Microsoft to any condition that would contradict the conditions of the GPL."
It gets much, much fancier, but it boils down to Microsoft promises you, the Novell user, that if it ever does sue anyone over potential Linux patent violations, it won't sue you. Novell might get sued, but not you.
The agreement, as I understand it, does some very fine dancing around the needle point of GPL Section 7, but it doesn't actually get stuck on it. You can disagree. I know many of you will, but until someone takes it to court and gets a decision against Novell, I don't see Novell going out of the Linux business anytime soon.
Novell also states, in its FAQ on the deal, that "Novell makes no admission that its Linux and open source offerings infringe on any other parties' patents."
Will Microsoft still try to pull patent tricks with Linux? I'm sure they will. But, with public statements like the above, I don't see how you can say, as some are, that Novell is somehow complicit in potentially attacking Linux with Microsoft.
Sorry, I don't see any smoking, or perhaps I should say, loaded gun here.
Now, let's look at Novell's history for a minute, shall we?
Didn't Novell smack SCO up side the head with its claim that SCO owes it the money the Unix company has been using for its never-ending lawsuits? Didn't Novell hit SCO where it lived with its claim that SCO never actually bought Unix's IP(intellectual property)? Wasn't Novell one of the companies that founded the OIN (Open Invention Network) with the goal of sharing Linux patents without charging for royalties?
The answers are yes, yes, and yes.
Novell has proven itself to be a loyal friend of Linux. And, it's not only Linux. Novell's staffers have also contributed to major open-source projects like Samba, OpenOffice.org, and Mono.
If you take a look at the whole package, and not just have a knee-jerk reaction when you see Microsoft, Linux, and Novell in the same story, I think you'll see that while you can argue about Novell's judgment, you can't paint the Linux company with the same tar-and-feathers that we keep around for SCO.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Get the whole Novell/Microsoft picture here:
The Novell/Microsoft Linux Deal Reading List
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