Re: [school-discuss] Fwd: A Landmark Announcement

[lee rodgers <sregdoreel@xxxxxxxxx>]

And since talk is cheap & we're all speculating anyways, here's my Devil's Advocacy... DON'T PANIC.

Some of what's being discussed is more FUD than reason, maybe intended as white propaganda for Novell & MS... SCO couldn't make it stick to the wall, so all this discussion about indemnification & non-litigation agreements is just fluff. What MS really wants out of Novell is to do what IBM is doing with their Z mainframes, and that's run Linux inside them... that is, wrap Windows around Linux in the datacenter via virtualization / VMs... 4 & 8 core machines are coming online & there's horsepower to spare. MS & Novell could provide mgm't services for Linux, BSD & OS-X (Apple is beating Dell in market share just now...).

Ballmer went on the record saying they'd never sue non-profit open source developers. What this means for RedHat or small indy distro makers, I'm not sure, but I'd be shocked were MS or Novell to actually sue RedHat ala
 SCO vs. IBM, et al. I don't think the big players really want to start s^H^H^Hfirestorms unless they were really threatened by some Lil' Napolean.

Surely it's good for Novell, SuSE Linux & OpenSuSE for them to be riding on superman's cape, but all the talk about IP & litigation seemed like marketing talk... It's an open secret that MS invested in SCO just to keep the lil' monster screaming "fire."

WRT to SCO's lawsuit against IBM, IBM pulled out its own patent warchest & threw them at SCO ... IBM keeps all manner of dubious patents in reserve, like combo-box drop-downs, etc., just for situations like SCO, even tho prior art & PARC, XMotif (whatever) historically invented those already.... M$ got hit up w/ a nuisance suit from some little IP company a few years back ... M$ fought it half-heartedly but ended up settling ... 

The system is so broken that NTP could rook RIM even as the patent office was revoking NTP's patent claim. This is
 what MS, IBM & the rest are looking at. 
   
Bitter lessons abound, so now the big industry players are buttressing themselves with huge moshpits of patent warchests and cross-licensing agreements... Kinda makes sense, just from a CYA bizniz standpoint. All the FUD talk is pure marketeering... Open Source is risky (ala SCO) for you except when you come through us, you're safe with us®.

All fear&loathings aside, the obvious isn't even mentioned ... a big chunk of MS's Active Directory is actually NDS (MS couldn't make ADS work back in 2001-2002, so they went off & licensed NDS...). So this new agreement would then be a continuation of cross-licensing & royalty stream for Novell & might serve to clarify how M$ sees Novell as the way to get deeper into managing big data centers (ala Unisys/Tandem & Windows-based VM-rigs of the EMC-everywhere era).

IMO, this won't effect non-profit FLOSS efforts, and it *could* inadvertently provide
 a protective umbrella for OpenSource developers against IP-sharks and their ilk (e.g. NTP & SCO).

;-)

/lee

Petre Scheie <petre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There's some question as to whether or not Novell's offer of patent protection for its
clients violates section 7 of the GPL. www.linuxtoday.com has several articles listed
with various people's reactions to the announcement. My own take is that this is not a
positive incident.

Petre Scheie

Michael Bendorf wrote:
> So, I'm sure that some on this list run a Novell network (as we do at Carlinville CUSD#1).
> I am in wanting of comments/questions/concerns/opinions on this.
> What is it going to mean for the integration of non-SUSE linux? (such as Edubuntu, EDU-Nix, RedHat, etc.)
>
> Michael T. Bendorf
> Technology Assistant
> Intermediate School
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject:
> Fwd: A Landmark Announcement
> From:
> "Gary Tipps"
> Date:
> Fri, 03 Nov 2006 14:52:32 -0600
> To:
> "Michael Bendorf"
>
> To:
> "Michael Bendorf"
>
>
>
> SPAM Alert: If you are expecting, but do not receive, a reply to this email within 72 hours, please
> contact me using one of the alternative methods below (phone or fax). Due to SPAM blocking on
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>
> Gary R. Tipps
> Network Administrator
> Carlinville Comm. Unit District #1
> 18456 Shipman Road
> Carlinville, IL 62626
>
> 217-854-9823 Fax 217-854-2777
> "To be Successful requires one be a good Listener."
>
>>>> RHovsepian@xxxxxxxxxx 11/2/2006 5:29 PM >>>
> 02 November 2006
>
>
> NOVELL & MICROSOFT
> COLLABORATE -
> CUSTOMER WIN.
>
> "Too often technology companies ask their
> customers to adapt to them. Today WE are
> adapting to our customers." Ron Hovsepian
>
>
> Today, Microsoft and Novell announced an historic new initiative. Important primarily because it means a lot to the communities we serve. Most notably, our customers. (See full press release).
> http://www.novell.com/news/press/item.jsp?id=1196
>
> Let me begin by quickly outlining what we just announced. Microsoft and Novell, starting today, have agreed to build and market solutions so that Novell's technology works on Microsoft and vice versa. Specifically, customers will now be able to run virtualized SUSE Linux Enterprise on Windows or Windows on SUSE Linux Enterprise. This landmark agreement also calls for both Microsoft and Novell to provide patent coverage to each others' customers for our respective products. Why is that important? It's important because you shouldn't have to spend a lot of time worrying about legal matters around which operating system to choose. You also shouldn't have to worry about barriers such as intellectual property agreements, who owns which patent portfolio, and indemnification. None of those issues move your business forward. Now many of those barriers have been removed.
>
> I am also proud that earlier today Novell and Microsoft demonstrated, by our words and actions, that we can work together for the mutual benefit of our customers. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, was very passionate and genuine in his support for this agreement. He spoke about how it will help our customers leverage both the Microsoft Windows platform as well as our SUSE Linux Enterprise platform. He mentioned how it will give customers like you choice and flexibility in building their technology environment. Choice and flexibility, something our customers often complain are in short supply. We're determined to change that.
>
> I'd like to build on what Steve said, and today I had the opportunity to make some of these points in person to the assembled press, analysts and industry experts. This agreement between us and Microsoft is a key cornerstone to our overall Novell promise to deliver the open enterprise to you, our customers. One where we can leverage a mixed environment- with open source and open standards based software- on your behalf. It's an agreement that will accelerate Novell's stated goal of helping you reduce cost, manage complexity and mitigate risk.
>
> I titled this a "landmark" announcement, and I truly believe it is. Transformational in its scope and important to us and our customers on a number of levels. You may wonder how this changes our relationship with Microsoft. It's no secret we've competed with them in the past. And we still will. However, it's also important for us all to remind ourselves that all organizations, particularly in our industry, need to adapt and change. Further, for whatever differences we've had with Microsoft over the years, we actually share a number of the same values. A strong belief in building customer solutions, and an unwavering belief in the power of technology and innovation. And now, with this announcement, the ability for you to deploy the applications you want on the operating system of your choice for a total solution. All in a way that best fits your business needs.
>
> This is the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for Novell. We know you want technology that features interoperability, choice, flexibility, and sustainability. We know you like to see your vendors working together on YOUR behalf. In fact, that is what this Microsoft/Novell agreement is all about. Working together to do a better job for you.
>
> I'm truly excited about this transformational announcement. The payoff will be better results where it counts most. On helping you grow and innovate, and in turn delivering on your promise to the communities you serve.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Ron Hovsepian
> CEO- Novell
>
>
>
>
>
> Read the official Novell press release
> http://www.novell.com/news/press/item.jsp?id=1196
>
> Watch the recorded webcast
> http://www.novell.com/webcast/
>
> For more information
> http://www.novell.com/microsoft/
>
>
>
> _________________________________________
>
>
>

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/lee
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