Open-source leader leaving Novell for Google

Jeremy Allison, a high-profile open-source programmer, has resigned from Novell because of objections over its patent deal with Microsoft and is moving to Google.

In his resignation letter, Allison said Novell’s patent pact with Microsoft has crippled the Linux seller’s relations with the open-source community. At Google, he’ll continue his work on Samba, the open-source project he helped launch. Samba is software that lets Linux servers share files on Windows networks.

“Whilst the Microsoft patent agreement is in place there is nothing we can do to fix community relations…Until the patent provision is revoked, we are pariahs,” Allison said in the letter, quoting from an earlier message he sent to Novell management. Allison joined Novell in 2005 after working at Hewlett-Packard.

Groklaw, a site that monitors open-source legal affairs, published Allison’s resignation letter Thursday. Allison on Thursday confirmed the letter’s authenticity, saying he had sent it to an internal Novell mailing list, but declined to comment further on his departure from Novell.

Google is a major open-source software user and participates in several open-source programming projects. Andrew Morton, a key lieutenant to Linux leader Linus Torvalds, works there, for example.

Full story: CNET News.com