There can't have been very many more sickening sights to Linux users than Novell and Microsoft embracing on a stage last week, promising a new era of co-operation.
Microsoft has promised not to sue Novell over SUSE Linux, and in turn Novell becomes Microsoft's lapdog, following it around the country, telling customers how wonderful the agreement is. No doubt Novell thinks this new era of co-operation will give it a much-needed boost, similar to the agreement Microsoft made with er, Corel.
Microsoft has also, very generously I'm sure, agreed not to press intellectual property (IP) claims against individual open source developers, but only if they are not being paid. "It does separate the open source developer who's doing it for a love of technology from those who are getting paid for it," says Microsoft's GM of platform strategy, Bill Hilf.
Excuse me? Does Microsoft now have some kind of hold over Linux? Is no one now allowed to program open source without Microsoft's say-so? And why on earth would Microsoft promise not to sue Novell over Linux? There is no code that belongs to Microsoft in Linux, and no trademarks or logos that belong to it.
Patent rights
But there are simple methods and concepts that programmers use every day to solve problems, hardly surprising since Linux is a complex kernel with many millions of lines of code in it. And in the brain-dead business and legal environment that is the US, such methods and concepts can be patented.
IP is a lazy and meaningless term that conflates all sorts of different intangible rights.
Paul Furber, senior group writer, ITWeb
That means if an ordinary programmer decides that adding two integers together is a good way of solving a problem and implements it, he can be sued by a company that has the patent rights.
Microsoft hasn't come out and actually specified what patents it won't be suing Novell over. If it did so the offending code would be ripped out and rewritten, or more likely Microsoft would be laughed at and examples of prior art dug up, thus invalidating the patent. Far better for Microsoft to be vague and unspecific - "Linux infringes our IP" - because then it can go to companies and say "you don't really want Linux - it infringes our IP".
It's worth noting that when someone uses the term IP, they're being deliberately vague. IP is a lazy and meaningless term that conflates all sorts of different intangible rights.
Red Hat has called this move an "innovation tax" and has said it would not compromise. Novell on the other hand, has sold-out.
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