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On November 2, Ron Hovsepian and Steve Ballmer took the stage together to announce a new collaborative relationship between Novell and Microsoft. That's a good thing, right? Anytime two fierce competitors come to an agreement to play nice with one another, everybody wins. Microsoft and Novell sure hope you think so. But who really benefits from this deal? Certainly Microsoft and Novell do, but what about everyone else? According to Microsoft/Novell "...customers will realize unprecedented choice and flexibility through improved interoperability and manageability between Windows® and Linux." Oh my! I now have choice! And even flexibility! w00t! Only, as a Linux and Windows user, I already had those things. Surely there has to be something else, yes? As part of this agreement, Microsoft will provide a covenant not to assert its patent rights against customers who have purchased SUSE Linux Enterprise Server or other covered products from Novell, and Novell will provide an identical covenant to customers who have a licensed version of Windows or other covered products from Microsoft. Excuse me, say what? People are already discussing the implications of this deal with regards to the GPL and wether or not Novell can possibly stay clear of any GPL violations. But what's more at issue here, in my opinion, are the various patent pledges. Do you really think that Microsoft and Novell, two companies with very good, very expensive teams of lawyers are going to risk violating the GPL with a deal of this magnitude?
Q1. How is this agreement compatible with Novell's obligations under Section 7 of the GPL?
Our agreement with Microsoft is focused on our customers, and does not include a patent license or covenant not to sue from Microsoft to Novell (or, for that matter, from Novell to Microsoft). Novell's customers receive a covenant not to sue directly from Microsoft. We have not agreed with Microsoft to any condition that would contradict the conditions of the GPL and we are in full compliance. Novell's end user customers receive a covenant not to sue directly from Microsoft for their use of Novell products and services, but these activities are outside the scope of the GPL. This is the real sticking point. This is what you should be looking at. All of the discussions about possible GPL violations are a waste of time. This isn't about the GPL. All of the people who suggest that we "just wait and see what happens" should really open their eyes to what has already happened. The cards are all on the table and everyone is too busy looking at the waitress holding the tray of drinks to realise it. I like to read. A lot. I especially enjoy a good suspense novel or a good mystery. Some of the most horrifying stories I've read are the ones where something like this plays out: Our hero gets threatened by the villian but stands his ground. The villian tries to bend our hero to his will but our hero is too honorable and decent to comply. Eventually our hero is attacked but he manages an escape. He even manages to inflict a small amount of damage on the bad guys in return. Realising that our hero is too honorable and strong willed to break, our villian threatens the hero's friends or family instead.
It's a pretty dirty and underhanded trick but it usually gets some type of result. In fictional stories our hero always manages a way to come out victorious and everyone is happy at the end. But this is real life. In that type of situation ask yourself how you would react. Risking your own life for something that you believe in is easy if you are honorable and have a strong moral fiber. But what about the lives of loved ones? Is it so easy to risk their lives for something that you believe in? Like I said, it's underhanded and dirty but it usually gets results. Otherwise terrorists would be targetting military and government installations instead of innocent women and children.
And that's the heart of that particular tactic: Terror. Fear. Don't attack your enemy outright, attack the ones he loves. Instill terror and fear in the hearts and minds of your "enemy" and his loved ones. That's why it's called terrorism. And Novell and Microsoft have just officially endorsed the following tactic as a good business model: Suing end users is not only okay, it's something to actively persue. Don't go after your competitors directly, go after their customers instead. Go after their communities. Go after their friends and family. Instill that fear into the hearts and minds of all of those would-be customers with a number of small attacks and some veiled threats.
This isn't really a surprise coming from the likes of Microsoft. But Novell? We already know that Microsoft helped fund, even if indirectly, the SCO lawsuit against IBM/Linux/World. The world sat by, flabbergasted, as SCO began to sue its own customers. We've speculated over and over again about Microsofts' reasons for funding them. You think it's about Vista? You think it's about killing Linux or Open Source? SCO laid the groundwork for this "collaboration" deal between Novell and Microsoft. SCO got us all used to the idea that corporations sueing end-users was the norm. How do you think NTP would have fared if, instead of filing suit against RIM, they started filing suit against all owners (end-users) of the Blackberry? If General Motors violated a patent of Chryslers, do you think it would be right of Chrysler to sue all of the people who purchased GM vehicles? Microsoft and Novell seem to think so.
Microsoft doesn't want to kill Linux or Open Source. They can't. Microsoft wants to control it. And Novell just signed on to this Jihad against Linux/Open Source. That's why I'll be spending my Saturday wiping SuSE off of three machines and installing Ubuntu or Fedora or anything other than SuSE. I don't support terrorism. Not in any form.
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