Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Friday 3 November 2006, 12:52 AM
Microsoft, Novell seal Windows and SuSE deal. World goes "Whaa...?"
Microsoft and Novell have just signed the mother of all non-aggression pacts, with Microsoft recommending SuSE for mixed platform work, undertaking to support the system and guaranteeing not to sue over patent issues.
For its part, Novell is committing to working with Microsoft on virtualisation, Open Document Format and Open XML interoperability and, according to the joint press release, "...will undertake work to make it easier for customers to manage mixed Windows and SUSE Linux Enterprise environments and to make it easier for customers to federate Microsoft Active Directory with Novell eDirectory"
The companies are also going to "create a joint research facility and pursue new software solutions for virtualization, management and document format compatibility."
From our American coverage - "Money is flowing both ways for the patent agreement, Smith said, including an "up-front balancing payment that runs from Microsoft to Novell, reflecting the large relevant volume of the products that we have shipped and an economic commitment from Novell to Microsoft that involves a running royalty."
News ends. Comment follows.
It's too early to say what this means - it's a huge announcement, and there are too many loose ends to count. How does this sort of one-on-one company deal cope with GPL mandated code sharing? Anything Microsoft creates for SuSE must by law be usable by everyone else, and any attempt to stop that happening will render Novell's licence to the Linux code base inoperable. What does the deal mean for the oh-so-important question of which virtualisation standard will rule the roost? And what exactly does the 'up-front balancing payment' from Microsoft to Novell cover, and the 'running royalty' from Novell to Microsoft? So many questions unanswered, with the devil most definitely in the details currently lying under several inches of gloss.
But. Microsoft is recommending Linux. That's a good thought to take away.
For its part, Novell is committing to working with Microsoft on virtualisation, Open Document Format and Open XML interoperability and, according to the joint press release, "...will undertake work to make it easier for customers to manage mixed Windows and SUSE Linux Enterprise environments and to make it easier for customers to federate Microsoft Active Directory with Novell eDirectory"
The companies are also going to "create a joint research facility and pursue new software solutions for virtualization, management and document format compatibility."
From our American coverage - "Money is flowing both ways for the patent agreement, Smith said, including an "up-front balancing payment that runs from Microsoft to Novell, reflecting the large relevant volume of the products that we have shipped and an economic commitment from Novell to Microsoft that involves a running royalty."
News ends. Comment follows.
It's too early to say what this means - it's a huge announcement, and there are too many loose ends to count. How does this sort of one-on-one company deal cope with GPL mandated code sharing? Anything Microsoft creates for SuSE must by law be usable by everyone else, and any attempt to stop that happening will render Novell's licence to the Linux code base inoperable. What does the deal mean for the oh-so-important question of which virtualisation standard will rule the roost? And what exactly does the 'up-front balancing payment' from Microsoft to Novell cover, and the 'running royalty' from Novell to Microsoft? So many questions unanswered, with the devil most definitely in the details currently lying under several inches of gloss.
But. Microsoft is recommending Linux. That's a good thought to take away.
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