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Re: Microsoft continues Linux voucher deal

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____/ Linonut on Wednesday 20 August 2008 11:24 : \____

>   
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=knowledge_center&articleId=9112979&taxonomyId=1&intsrc=kc_top
> 
>    August 20, 2008 (Computerworld)  Microsoft Corp., which two years ago
>    agreed to buy and resell $240 million worth of  enterprise support
>    subscriptions for Novell Inc.'s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
>    operating system, will buy and resell up to another $100 million of
>    vouchers, the two companies said today.
> 
>    The unusual scenario in which the world's dominant proprietary
>    software vendor is helping to market open-source software such as
>    Linux began in November 2006, when the two former foes agreed to a
>    set of pioneering cross-licensing and interoperability deals, with
>    Microsoft admitting that many of its business customers were also
>    fans of open-source software.
> 
>    . . .
> 
>    Meanwhile, Hauser confirmed that some of the subscription vouchers
>    were sold to customers for less than face value, though none were
>    given away for free.
> 
>   
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/08/20/novell_widens_linux_accord_with_microsoft/
> 
>    Microsoft executives alleged that Linux contained stolen Microsoft
>    intellectual property. Linux supporters said the charge was intended
>    to scare people away from switching from Microsoft Windows to Linux.
> 
>    But in 2006, Microsoft struck a deal with Novell that included
>    cross-licensing of intellectual property, so that users of Novell's
>    SUSE Linux were protected from legal attack by Microsoft. In
>    addition, Microsoft agreed to buy and redistribute SUSE Linux
>    licenses worth $240 million over five years and to work with Novell
>    to make Windows and Linux work smoothly together.
> 
>    Microsoft resold $157 million of Novell's Linux licenses as of April,
>    providing a major boost to Novell's revenues. In the second quarter
>    of 2008, ended May 28, revenue for Novell's Linux business was up 31
>    percent from the previous year.
> 
>    "Their billings are up quite a bit," said Al Gillen, an operating
>    systems analyst at IDC Corp. in Framingham. "It's been good for
>    Novell."

This is not a "voucher deal". It's patent extortion. Hovo-sapient and Steve
Ballmer continue to screw up the Free software movement.

“I’ve heard from Novell sales representatives that Microsoft sales executives
have started calling the Suse Linux Enterprise Server coupons “royalty
payments”"

                                        –Matt Asay

- -- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

Roy S. Schestowitz      |    chmod a-r *.mbox
http://Schestowitz.com  |  RHAT GNU/Linux   |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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