A-Z Linux Guide

In November, Microsoft and Novell announced a five-year patent and technology agreement around Microsoft software and Novell’s SUSE Linux software. The parties to the deal called it a “patent covenant.” Others called it a sellout, a FUD attack, or a declaration of war on Linux specifically and open-source software generally. So what is this Microsoft-Novell deal really about?

In trying to understand any legal agreement, it’s usually helpful to look at the money flow. In this case, it’s a little complicated—with some of the money flowing now and some later, and with Microsoft buying Linux support coupons from Novell, committing money to market Novell products to Microsoft customers, and granting patent indemnification to Novell customers while receiving patent indemnification for Microsoft customers from Novell.

It nets out, though, to hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from Microsoft to Novell. So you’d think that the question would be, “What did Novell give Microsoft for the money it got from Microsoft?” But instead, the reaction to the announcement was all about something that Microsoft was giving to Novell, or rather to Novell customers, under the agreement: A promise not to sue them for intellectual property infringement…. more