| Microsoft/Xandros patent-pact deja vu |
Jun. 05, 2007
Microsoft on June 4 announced a set of broad collaboration agreements with Linux distributor Xandros. Chief among these agreements is an intellectual property assurance that Microsoft will provide patent covenants for Xandros Linux customers, along the lines of the recent Microsoft/Novell deal.
David Kaefer, Microsoft's general manager for IP [intellectual property] and licensing, told eWEEK's Peter Galli that these covenants are almost identical to Microsoft and Novell's patent agreement and covenant not to sue. Kaefer said this will ensure that the Xandros Linux technologies customers use are compliant with Microsoft's IP.
Here we go again.
Once more we have Microsoft pledging that it won't sue Novell -- excuse me, Xandros -- Linux customers for violating its IP, specifically patents. What patents? Determined how? Violated in what way? We don't know, and Microsoft still isn't telling.
As I've asked before: How dumb does Microsoft think we are?
I also wonder how dumb does Microsoft think the Free Software Foundation, with its final draft of the GPLv3, is?
The GPLv3 authors have made it pretty darn clear that neither Microsoft, nor anyone else, can get away with this kind of patent agreement anymore.
Now, it's possible that Microsoft and Xandros made their agreement just under the GPLv3 deadline wire. Even so, some provisions of the Microsoft/Novell deal were specifically grandfathered into the GPLv3. I can't possibly see this latest arrangement getting the same blessing.
So why did Microsoft and Xandros put the patent-pact arrangement in this collaboration deal, anyway? Details of the deal making aren't out yet, but I've no doubt that it was because MS insisted. They did with Novell.
You see, Microsoft wanted it included because they want to keep the FUD about Linux IP problems going. Microsoft is now claiming that there is no inherent contradiction between its claims that free and open-source software infringes on 235 of its patents, and the thinly veiled legal threats that go along with that, and its efforts to reach out and build bridges with the open-source community.
If you buy that, I have a great bridge -- a classic -- in Brooklyn that you might be interested in.
Actually, I don't think Microsoft is really interested in suing anyone. What they're interested in is keeping some level of doubt alive and well in businesses, that there might be trouble ahead of them if they buy Linux. In a way, Microsoft is no longer selling its own programs, its selling fear.
Why would Xandros be a party to this? Well, Xandros doesn't want to be, but the company has always been, despite some quite excellent Linux distributions, a second-tier Linux desktop player and a third-tier Linux server company. The company needed to do something, anything, to make it stand out from its competitors.
I suspect Xandros executives looked at how CIOs, CTOs, and other corporate leaders approved of the Windows/Linux interoperability coming from the Novell/Microsoft deal, and wanted some of that for their own offerings.
Xandros CEO Andreas Typaldos stated, "Companies today are running a mixture of Linux and Windows systems. Cross-platform data centers are a reality. To meet evolving customer needs, vendors need to recognize the value of sharing intellectual property, developing more interoperable solutions and providing management tools that are familiar and easy to use."
That IP comment ("sharing intellectional property") is going to bite Xandros in the rump with the open-source community, but it's hard to argue with the benefits of the rest of the deal. Specifically, besides the patent FUD, here's what Xandros said it will be getting:- Xandros will partner with Microsoft to deliver heterogeneous server and network management capabilities that will work with the next generation of Microsoft System Center and Xandros Systems Management products, which provide end-to-end service management. Xandros will also join Microsoft and other management vendors in implementing the WS-Management set of protocols in Xandros BridgeWays cross-platform management products and in various systems management standardization efforts.
- Server interoperability. Xandros will license a broad set of Microsoft server communications protocols. Xandros will develop enhancements to Xandros Server, allowing it to interoperate more smoothly with Windows Server in a network setting.
- Office document compatibility. Xandros will join Microsoft and other companies that are building open source translators fostering interoperability between documents stored in Open XML and Open Document Format. Xandros will ship the translators in upcoming releases of its Xandros Desktop offering.
- Microsoft sales and marketing support. Microsoft will now endorse Xandros Server and Desktop as a preferred Linux distribution due to Xandros's efforts to establish rich interoperability and deliver IP assurance to its customers. In addition, a specialized team of Microsoft staff will be trained on the value propositions of this collaboration to customers and channel partners. Xandros will also become a member of the Microsoft Interop Vendor Alliance.
Except for the poison pill of Microsoft's bogus IP assurances, it's a good deal. Indeed, it was a good enough deal that Xandros appears to be betting its future on it.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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