It's Official, Microsoft Likes (Novell) Linux

by admin November 3, 2006 at 4:21 am

Microsoft is the mortal enemy of Linux, right? Not necessarily

In a surprise announcement, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian took the stage at a San Francisco hotel this afternoon to provide details on a partnership that will forever change the Linux landscape.

Microsoft is partnering with Novell on Linux. No that’s not a typo. It’s not a joke, it’s official.

The two key components of the agreement revolve around interoperability and patents. The deal is not with Linux in general but specifically with Novell’s SUSE Linux offerings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Microsoft Novell agreements are set to be in place until at least 2012 and do involve a flow of cash from one partner to the other on the use of patent and for joint interoperability work. As part of the deal, Microsoft will also be buying as many as 70,000 units of Novell’s SUSE Linux enterprise server.

Novell and Microsoft will also create a joint research facility that focuses on interoperability between Linux and Windows. The key elements of interoperability covered by the agreement are virtualization, virtualization management, and inter-office suite (Office to OpenOffice) interoperability.

The two partners will also now collaborate on sales and marketing for both companies’ interoperable solutions.

The agreement does not mean the Microsoft will now support Linux instead of Windows.

Full story: internetnews.com