Red Hat says no to Microsoft
No need for novell Microsoft type of agreement, says Linux vendor Red Hat.
Red Hat has turned down an offer from Microsoft. The offer was similar to another Linux vendor, Red Hat. But surprisingly Red Hat has turned down the offer from Microsoft. The Linux vendor said, " it does not believe there is a need for or basis for the type of relationship defined in the Microsoft-Novell announcement." But the company is ready to work with Microsoft on "true interoperability and open standards." Just a week ago Microsoft and Novell joined hands to enable their software to co-exist on a single server computer. This collaboration is in view at growing the number of companies and government agencies that rely on elements of Microsoft's Windows and Linux to run their computers. The agreement also comes at a time when Oracle Corp. boosted its Linux efforts, which was intimidating for Novell and Microsoft.
After waging war for so years Microsoft and Novell signed an agreement to enable their software to co-exist on a single server computer. Many from the open source community view Novell as the traitor to the cause, as the agreement includes Novell paying hefty royalties to Microsoft for any use of Microsoft's intellectual property in sales.
The agreement also includes a clause that Microsoft would not pursue patent claims against Novell with regards to intellectual property. Now this very agreement has certain implications on other Linux vendors like Red Hat. Microsoft would now pursue Red Hat for patent claims in future and ask them to pay protection money.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said "We are willing to do the same deal with Red Hat Linux and other Linux distributors." Microsoft clearly wants to end the war and keep customers happy who are using both Linux and Microsoft for their servers. Microsoft is paying $442 million to Novell. In turn, Novell will pay at least $40 million to Microsoft over the next five years as part of a patent-cooperation agreement.
Deputy general counsel at Red Hat, Mark Webbink in the defense of Red Hat said that it does not believe there is a need for or basis for the type of relationship defined in the Microsoft-Novell announcement. He clarified that the company would not mind working with Microsoft on "true interoperability and open standards."
Microsoft's General Manager Bill Hilf agreed that though its ok for Microsoft's customers who use Novell's SUSE Linux covered by the covenants not to be sued, it’s unjust for other Microsoft customers who use Red Hat Linux. This is all the more important because Red Hat is the leading Linux vendor is the United States in terms of market shares, which means the majority of Microsoft's customers who are also using the open-source operating system are running Red Hat Linux.
Hilf further added, "It's a tough, awkward situation, and if those customers ask us for some kind of patent indemnification, we'll look at this. If they ask us to do something, we'll certainly look at all the options, but the preferred course of action would be for us to strike a similar deal with Red Hat."
Hilf who has been touring Europe noticed that there is a lot of negativity about the deal in the open-source community. He clarified that Microsoft's intention was not to create any problem, but rather solve it. Hilf is trying to translate the deal into something that a layman can understand. Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president for servers and tools explained the two primary motives behind the deal.
"One was interoperability, which is very positive for us in every sense," he said. "The second is to recognize, unambiguously, that there is value to intellectual property within open-source products that are used by customers, and that that intellectual property should be honored."
Microsoft sounded very optimistic about striking a deal with Red Hat. But Red Hat are not too keen. It remains to be seen if Red Hat does a Novell or defend its Linux Fort!
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