OT: Interesting news - what does this mean for RH?
John Wendel
john.wendel at metnet.navy.mil
Fri Nov 3 21:50:35 UTC 2006
Phil Meyer wrote:
> Steffen Kluge wrote:
>> http://www.novell.com/news/press/item.jsp?id=1196
>> http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/default.mspx
>>
>> Cheers
>> Steffen.
>>
> Several things here:
>
> Remember the 'cross licensing' deal with SUN that ended the Java
> litigation and enabled .Net?
>
> This is similar, with a clear win for Microsoft.
>
> 1. The litigation Novell vs. Microsoft anti competitive WordPerfect is
> over.
> 2. The Mono developers and users feel better.
> 3. Novell gets some much needed short term cash.
>
> What does Microsoft get?
>
> This 'deal' INFERS that Novell agrees with Microsoft that Linux
> infringes Microsoft patents.
>
> This will make it much easier for Microsoft to attack or strongarm other
> Linux distributors.
>
> What do we get?
>
> An 800 pound gorilla with a history a corporate violence with
> Novell/SUSE in its pocket. Not a good thing at all.
>
> Personally, I hope Novell likes its windfall of short term cash as much
> as SUN did, and I hope it allows them to survive the 6 year duration of
> the agreement.
>
> As for me, my interest in SUSE has vanished, even faster than my
> interest in Solaris did. I had previous to the SUN agreement installed
> Solaris personally on over 1500 systems of all sizes. I have not since.
>
> See the more detailed analysis at http://groklaw.net
>
If I were running RH, I'd be looking to move my corporation to another
country, preferably one that ignored US patent law. I suspect we'll
all be paying Microsoft soon (or trying to get our updates from a
Chinese web site).
I hate being controlled by a criminal monopoly.
Regards,
John
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