| Novell/Microsoft deal: good for Novell, good for Linux? |
Nov. 02, 2006
Microsoft? Microsoft is giving a Linux distribution it's blessing? Novell is working with its arch-enemy of over 20-years?
It still seems unbelievable. but it did happen. Microsoft is "supporting" Linux, and both companies are working together to improve interoperability between Windows and Linux.
So, this is great news, right? Microsoft finally admits Linux is not only for real, but that they need to work with it. Wonderful, right? Right?
OK, so it is wonderful for Novell. This move instantly makes SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) the Linux of choice for any company that's already invested in Windows. Forget about the 75,000 SLES discount coupons that Microsoft will be giving to customers that are interested in Linux.
That's nice, but the real meat is that the two companies are working together on getting Novell's eDirectory and Microsoft's AD (Active Directory) in sync, and on making it possible to run either company's server OS as a virtual instance on the others. That's the kind of practical improvements that will make any serious CIO sit up and take notice.
Of course, none of that technical goodness is here, yet. Many companies promise wonderful things from technical partnerships... and then nothing is ever heard of the deal again.
But, then there's another part of the Novell/Microsoft deal. One that takes place immediately. Microsoft is giving Novell Linux customers -- and only Novell's customers -- a guarantee that they'll be safe from any possible legal action concerning Microsoft's vast patent portfolio.
There's always been the potential for a software patent lawsuit involving Linux. Heck, if you know anything about the massive mess that is software patent litigation, you know that anyone can sue anyone even without valid patents, as in the case of RIM and NTP.
The carrot that is being offered here is that if you go with SUSE Linux, you won't need to worry about legal trouble from Microsoft.
The stick, of course, is if you buy another company's Linux, oh say Red Hat Inc.'s RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), well maybe Microsoft will come after Red Hat.
I used to think that Microsoft wouldn't dare use its patents against the Linux companies. My logic was that if Microsoft started really throwing its patent weight around, IBM or Novell could retaliate in kind. Thus, if any one company tried to smash Linux with an overly aggressive patent enforcement, they would be blasted by the pro-Linux companies with large patent portfolios. It was the old geopolitical idea of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) . brought into the PC age.
Well, now Novell and Microsoft have a non-aggression treaty. Yes, the Novell/Microsoft deal also frees individual, non-profit open-source developers, and programmers who work on openSUSE, from any Microsoft patent danger. But what about programmers who work on, say, Red Hat Linux?
I hope I'm wrong. I hope that in the next few weeks, I'm not writing about Microsoft suing Red Hat. That Linux company has had more than enough trouble recently with Oracle. Or, maybe it won't be Red Hat. Maybe Ubuntu would be the target.
Why do I fear Microsoft might try this? I fear it because Microsoft's proxy war on Linux via SCO is finally coming to its endgame. And no one, probably not even in SCO's own offices, believes that SCO will win.
So, what can Microsoft do? It can bend, ever so slowly, to the simple fact that Linux is here to stay -- but at the same time, it can free itself to attack individual Linux companies in the court room.
Cynical? Yes. But after covering Microsoft for almost two-decades, I trust Microsoft the least when it looks like they're co-operating with others the most.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Get the whole Novell/Microsoft picture here:
The Novell/Microsoft Linux Deal Reading List
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