When will these companies learn about getting into bed with snakes ...err.... Microsoft. Don't they learn anything by seeing these other companies getting burned.
The last, serious, one I remember was that investment company that gave SCO all that money for Linux licenses under the mistaken impression that MS was backing their play. All of a sudden MS doesn't know what they're talking about and the MS exec that made the "promise" is gone.
Seems like it began with MS nearly bankrupting IBM back in the 80's. They've left a trail of broken and damaged bodies ever since. They all thought Bill was their buddy.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony <vze2jy85@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, November 3, 2006 1:48 pm
Subject: Linux and Windows OS
> Hi Everyone:
>
> A very interesting development. Are we moving towards
> a unified Windows-Linux OS in the future?
>
> Tony
>
> ***
> Microsoft, Novell partner on historic Windows, Linux
> interoperability deal
>
> By John Fontana, NetworkWorld.com, 11/02/06
>
> Microsoft and Novell Thursday announced a wide ranging
> business and technology partnership designed to make
> it easier for companies to run, integrate and manage
> Linux and Windows in their environments while steering
> clear of patent and intellectual property concerns.
>
> The companies said an agreement not to assert patent
> and intellectual property rights would run through
> 2012. The agreement applies to independent and other
> open source developers who have often feared patent
> suits from Microsoft.
>
> Financial terms of the partnership were not announced,
> but both companies said they will make upfront
> payments in exchange for a release from any potential
> liability for use of each other?s patented
> intellectual property.
>
> On the technology side, the agreement focused on
> virtualization, Web services for managing physical and
> virtual servers and the integration of document
> formats specifically in Microsoft?s Office and
> Novell?s OpenOffice.
>
> ?I think this will make our respective products more
> attractive to customers,? said Microsoft CEO Steve
> Ballmer during a press conference in San Francisco
> where he was joined by Novell CEO Ronald Hovsepian.
>
> While the two thanked each other for their respective
> cooperation, they repeatedly said the agreement was
> hammered out under the urging from customers who
> desperately needed interoperability for their mixed
> environments.
>
> ?It is great to see these leaders combining to solve
> key compatibility issues,? said Randy Cowen, the CTO
> of Goldman Sachs, who appeared on stage with Ballmer
> and Hovsepian.
>
> Microsoft said it will provide a covenant not to
> assert its patent rights against customers who have
> purchased SuSE Linux Enterprise Server or other
> covered Novell products. Meanwhile, Novell will
> provide an identical covenant to customers who have a
> licensed version of Windows or other covered Microsoft
> products.
>
> ?This new collaborative relationship was only possible
> with the intellectual property bridge we built between
> the proprietary and open source model,? said Ballmer.
> He added that the deal protects Microsoft?s
> intellectual property while ensuring that the open
> source development community can continue to innovate.
>
>
> Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the
> companies worked for nearly six months to hammer out
> the complex legal agreement. ?We had to do something
> no one has done before. We will ensure that every
> customer that purchases a subscription for SuSE
> Enterprise Linux will get not only service and support
> from Novell but a patent covenant from Microsoft.?
>
> As part of the partnership, Microsoft will not assert
> its patents against individual noncommercial open
> source developers, nor will it assert its patents
> against individual contributors to OpenSuSE.org whose
> code is included in the SuSE Linux Enterprise
> platform, including both the server and desktop
> version.
>
> In addition, Microsoft said it will recommend SuSE
> Linux Enterprise for customers who want Windows and
> Linux products. Microsoft said it will distribute
> 70,000 coupons for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server
> maintenance and support, so that customers can benefit
> from the use of an interoperable version of Linux.
>
> In terms of interoperability, the two said they would
> jointly develop a virtualization offering for both
> Linux and Windows that would allow either to be the
> host or guest operating system.
>
> In terms of management, the two said they would make
> it easier for users to manage Windows and SuSE Linux
> environments, including making it easier to federate
> Microsoft?s Active Directory and Novell?s eDirectory.
> Those platforms form the core of each vendor?s
> identity management platforms.
>
> While the pair did not go into specifics, it is clear
> the interoperability will happen between Novell?s
> ZenWorks management platform and Microsoft?s family of
> System Center products.
>
> In the area of document format compatibility the two
> will focus on interoperability between Microsoft?s
> Office and OpenOffice, which ships with Novell?s SuSE
> Linux Enterprise Desktop software. They also will
> focus on developing translators to improve
> interoperability between OpenXML from Microsoft and
> the Open Document Format, which is widely embraced in
> the open source community.
>
> In addition, Microsoft said it will work with Novell
> and contribute to several open source software
> projects, including those focused on Office file
> formats and Web services management.
>
> The two new partners plan to create a joint research
> facility staffed by Microsoft and Novell technical
> experts who can build and test software and work with
> customers.
>
> The agreement won praise from other vendors across the
> industry including Intel, AMD, IBM, HP, Dell, HP, and
> SAP.
>
> Reference: http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2006/110206-reports-
> microsoft-novell-to-strike.html
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Received on Fri Nov 3 15:23:34 2006
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