Open source outrage may result in Novell Linux ban
Outraged members of the open source community are calling for Novell to be banned from selling new versions of the Linux operating system after the company entered in a far reaching agreement with Microsoft.
The Linux Penguin normally has such a pleasant disposition – not today
The board of the Free Software Foundation, which manages Linux licensing, is currently reviewing the matter, according to Reuters.
“The community of people have … every reason to be deeply concerned that this (deal) is the beginning of a significant patent aggression by Microsoft,” Eben Moglen, the Foundation’s general counsel, is reported to have said.
The deal between Microsoft and Novell involves both companies selling their products together, and developing new technology to make it easier to use Linux next to Windows. The deal also involves two payments of $348 million by Microsoft to Novell, and the sharing of intellectual property.
The open source community is outraged by the deal, because it believes it would undermine Linux’s patent position and give Microsoft an advantage when trying to sell Windows against Linux.
The board of the Free Software Foundation is currently deliberating the issue, and is expected to make a decision in the next two weeks. Novell’s only comment was that it was not making a comment.
Last year sales of Linux made up 5% of Novell’s $967 million revenue, and if the company is banned from new versions of Linux code, the company will have to spend more on research and development to upgrade its software. Novell is the world’s second biggest Linux distributor.
It’s noteworthy that the open source community feels so threatened by the Microsoft deal that it is prepared to cut off Novell. Remember it’s a two way street; while Novell benefits from the open source development of Linux, it also contributes to Linux’s development.
As this issue plays out, it will be interesting to see how Novell reacts, should it be banned. It will certainly be an indicator of how much influence the open source community actually has, and the importance of Linux in the corporate arena.
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February 5th, 2007
The Rueters article that started it all is _totally_ inaccurate. Novell won’t be banned from using Linux. GNU is another matter.
Roy Schestowitz
boycottnovell.com