Microsoft recently signed a deal for SUSE Linux, a Novell-owned
distribution of the Linux operating system. The two companies
pledged that they would improve the interoperability of their
products. Open source advocates were amazed at the deal, but
Ballmer's comments could vindicate the suspicions of some.
Ballmer said in a question and answer session at a technology
conference that Microsoft signed the deal because Linux "uses our
intellectual property" and it wanted to "get the appropriate
economic return for our shareholders from our innovation."
Those claims to rights in Linux will set alarm bells ringing in
the open source community. Some had argued that the deal was a
sophisticated way of claiming rights over the software.
The deal involved a payment of $440 million from Microsoft to
Novell for coupons which Microsoft users can redeem against support
for SUSE Linux. A payment that now looks to be more important,
though, is a $40 million payment from Novell to Microsoft, reported
to be a pledge that Microsoft will not sue its users for patent
infringement.
Ballmer was explaining the rationale behind that deal. "Novell
pays us some money for the right to tell customers that anybody who
uses SUSE Linux is appropriately covered," he said, according to
Computerworld. "This is important to us, because we believe every
Linux customer basically has an undisclosed balance sheet
liability."
The comments will provoke fury amongst open source advocates who
believe that Microsoft has no claims at all on the intellectual
property contained in Linux.
In explaining the deal before Ballmer's comments, Roger Levy,
vice-president of open platform solutions at Novell, told a Paris
press conference that the deal solved a problem which was costing
both firms money.
“Customers were afraid they'd get sued if they crossed platforms
and this meant that they were hesitating on buying decisions," said
Levy. "As part of the deal Microsoft will agree not to sue our
customers and we agreed not to sue their customers. This is not an
agreement between companies – we can still sue each other for any
number of reasons – but ultimately our respective customers needed
peace of mind to make decisions."
Red Hat, which also distributes commercial versions of Linux,
refused to sign a similar deal with Microsoft. Red Hat "does not
believe there is a need for or basis for the type of relationship
defined in the Microsoft-Novell announcement," deputy general
counsel Mark Webbink told news agency Bloomberg in a statement.
