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

[Shane Coyle <shane@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

OK, remember that Novell has made claims that they own the IP that SCO says is 
in Linux, which submarines SCO's case- but not Novell's, so it is not 
inconceivable that Novell now makes SCO's move and asks for royalties on 
Linux, but with an actual case, perhaps.

Ask Mr. Ballmer what he means by:

"If a customer says, 'Look, do we have liability for the use of your patented 
work?' Essentially, If you're using non-SUSE Linux, then I'd say the answer 
is yes," Ballmer said.

Then, read Section 7 of the GPL that you think Novell feels bound by and would 
never violate:
If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement 
or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are 
imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that 
contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the 
conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy 
simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent 
obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. 
For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution 
of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through 
you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to 
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.


Some have said this is not a patent cross-license agreement, technically, but 
this is how it is described in the SEC filing:

Under the Patent Cooperation Agreement, Microsoft commits to a covenant not to 
assert its patents against Novell's end-user customers for their use of 
Novell products and services for which Novell receives revenue directly or 
indirectly from such customers, with certain exceptions, while Novell commits 
to a covenant not to assert its patents against Microsoft's end-user 
customers for their use of Microsoft products and services for which 
Microsoft receives revenue directly or indirectly from such customers, with 
certain exceptions.

So, you now have a choice- be a paying licensee of Novell Linux or be exposed 
to potential litigation, how does this differ from SCOSource?

If you want more information, checkout PJ at Groklaw.net, she is always 
incredibly thorough in her research.

-shane



On Wednesday 08 November 2006 12:10, Chris Gregan wrote:
> I agree with Petre. It is a little early to be carving the Novell
> headstone because of a resource sharing, and patent protection agreement
> with Microsoft that is really just a press release at this point. I have
> read a ton of comments, and most clearly have no clue what this means.
> Baseless speculation. The fact are that many FOSS projects believe this
> is good for the community.
> In addition, There is one major difference between the companies that
> have made agreements in the past, and Novell/Suse. OpenSuse is free, and
> community driven. Even if Novell where to become MSNovell, there is no
> way they could stifle a community project. All the software being worked
> on is GPL'd. The GPL prevents Novell/MS from denying any of that stack
> from the public.
> I worry that this is in fact the outcome MS was looking for. They sign a
> deal, and in return, all of the users of one of their rivals, abandon
> the product simply because of a press release.
> I understand concerns, but I would not dump this highly usable, and well
> designed OS simply on the knee jerk rantings of a few pundits. Simply
> hedge the bet. Use SLES servers and Ubuntu desktops, or Red Hat servers
> and SLED/opensuse desktops, but nothing I have read, or discovered in
> the release would make me think this is the beginning of the end of
> Novell and it's commitment to FOSS.
>
> Here are some more pragmatic responses to the news:
>
> http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9843352777.html
> http://www.kdedevelopers.org/node/2511
>
> Chris Gregan
> cgregan@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Open Source Migration Specialist/Founder
> Aptenix LLC-Desktop Solutions
> New Market, MD
> (240)422-9224
>
> "Open source, open minds."
>
> This message is confidential, intended only for the named recipient(s)
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>
> Petre Scheie wrote:
> > Perhaps 'hedge your bets' is a better strategy than 'boycott Novell' in
> > your case.  Most people, even non-technical ones, will agree when you
> > say that many/most companies that allied with MS eventually get absorbed
> > or stabbed in the back--in either case, they go away.  Considering all
> > that MS has said about Linux, there's no reason to consider this deal
> > will be any different.  Perhaps it won't turn out bad for Novell.  But
> > what your school needs to be doing is thinking strategically, such that
> > if Novell does end up in a bad position as a result of this deal, your
> > school and its technology plan aren't in a position that suddenly
> > becomes very expensive.  The diversity of Linux distributions is one of
> > its strengths.  If one vendor does something that isn't in your best
> > interest, you can move to another fairly easily.  If MS or Apple do
> > something that's good for them at your expense, and your technology plan
> > is built around them, it's difficult to change, meaning you sigh, and
> > then increase class size so you can eliminate a teacher to pay for MS's
> > or Apple's price increase.  The point is to be thinking NOW about where
> > you want to be in two or three years so that if  Novell does collapse,
> > you can say "Good thing we made those changes back in 2006 such that
> > Novell's demise/MS's tightening restrictions/price increase doesn't
> > affect us."  One could argue that this MS/Novell deal gives you a real
> > opportunity to convince your colleagues of the danger of your 'full
> > investment in Novell' and the need to move away from such mono-culture,
> > as it provides you with an occasion to remind people of how these deals
> > usually play out, and how your school should take steps to make sure
> > it's not on the short end of such an agreement.
> >
> > Petre
> >
> > Michael Bendorf wrote:
> >> the other penny is for maintenance
> >>
> >>
> >> I am a bit confused. At CCUSD#1 we have a full investment in Novell as
> >> our NOS and have MS desktops - how would I make the suggestion to
> >> "Boycott Novell"?
> >>
> >>
> >> As a personal user running Fedora and sharing Ubuntu with less Linux
> >> savvy persons wanting to get away from M$ I understand, but I have to
> >> question what this will mean from a district in the situation I find
> >> here.
> >>
> >> I have to put it out there that I am personally a peon when it comes
> >> to these decisions and have only been in the Ed. Tech. scene for about
> >> 18 months. I love it when my opinion is asked for though, and so have
> >> been thinking about what I would do if it were my choice.
> >>
> >> Michael T. Bendorf
> >> Technology Assistant
> >> Intermediate School
> >>
> >>>>> shane@xxxxxxxxxxx 11/07/06 8:38 PM >>>
> >>
> >> Simple. Boycott Novell.  They will go the way of SCO.
> >> This is MS going after Oracle's deep pockets, and Novell gets to knock
> >> out all competition and secure an up-front payment as well as
> >> ownership of the linux market, which MS will allow to remain a small
> >> healthy percentage to stave off antitrust allegations-  A nice little
> >> lapdog for MS, that they actually derive revenue from in perpetuity,
> >> nice.
> >>
> >> MS propped up SCO against IBM, but the sticker was IBM has never
> >> distributed linux and Novell claimed its own rights over the contested
> >> "IP"
> >> .  SCO has no case, and is rotting on the vine.  Even if Novell gets
> >> to finally see SCO in court, there will be no SCO left.  Novell has
> >> been seen by the community as a defender, and has steadily caught up
> >> to and surpassed the leader redhat in terms of enterprise linux
> >> offerings.  Honestly, SLED was probably the best enterprise distro out
> >> there, imho.
> >>
> >> Now, days after Oracle threatens to not only destroy redhat and SuSE
> >> in the enterprise space with its Unbreakable Linux and support
> >> (including indemnification from ip litigation - $chaching$), but
> >> actually threaten MS and its trainwreck Vista in the enterprise
> >> (imagine not having to upgrade all of your hardware just to run a
> >> slightly more secure OS), we hear about this Novell-MS partnership -
> >> expect them to go after the first big Oracle customer, and then when
> >> Oracle steps in on their behalf - watch out.
> >>
> >> That's my two cents, but I only get a penny for my thoughts, so where
> >> does the other penny go?
> >>
> >> -shane
> >>
> >> On Tuesday 07 November 2006 09:18, *********|Praveen wrote:
> >>> 2006/11/7, Michael Bendorf <bendorfm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> >>>> 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.
> >>>
> >>> Novell-Microsoft: What They Aren't Telling
> >>> You<http://technocrat.net/d/2006/11/2/9945>
> >>> By Bruce Perens
> >>>
> >>> "There are two significant announcements. First, that Novell and
> >>> Microsoft
> >>> are entering into a patent cross-license, and second, that Microsoft is
> >>> promising not to assert its patents against individual non-commercial
> >>> developers. The bad part is that this sets Mirosoft up to assert its
> >>> patents against all commercial Open Source users. There are also some
> >>> little bonuses for Microsoft, like Novell will help Microsoft turn
> >>> back the
> >>> Open Document Format and substitute something Microsoft controls.
> >>>
> >>> When we say "commercial", it's interesting to note that there are
> >>> really few non-commercial users: people who only use their computer for
> >>> a hobby.
> >>> Buying something on a web site, for example, is a commercial use. Most
> >>> individuals use their computers in some aspect of making their
> >>> livelihood.
> >>> There will now be a Microsoft-approved path for such people to make
> >>> use of
> >>> Open Source, an expensive subscription to Novell SuSe Linux that
> >>> costs as
> >>> much or more than Microsoft Windows and that comes with a patent
> >>> license."
> >>> Full article at http://technocrat.net/d/2006/11/2/9945

-- 
Shane Coyle
www.edu-nix.org
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