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Re: Patent Sellout (Novell) and Patent Megatroll (LANCOR)

____/ Rex Ballard on Friday 04 January 2008 07:11 : \____

> Yes, unfortunately, the contract itself is sealed, covered by
> Microsoft's usual strict nondisclosure agreements.  Novell must have
> done some heavy arm twisting to be able to give out as much
> information as they already have.

What you need to look at is the redacted filing to the SEC. It was released
days before Easter of 2007. Very, very revealing. And disgusting quite
frankly! The time they released that was tactical (this was said before)... a
long weekend... just as in this case of a release before Xmas... WinE
developers weren't too happy for example. There's a lot you haven't read, I
suspect.

[...]

> It looks to me like there was more of a patent swap.  Essentially,
> Microsoft won't sue any SUSE customers for using Linux, and SUSE won't
> sue and Microsoft customers or using Windows.

No, not that. Microsoft pays Novell for Novell patents and then extracts money
from Novell (undetermined amount) _based on how much Novell sells_. This
establishes a per-shipment royalty. I'll give you the quote from the filing if
you require that.

[...]

> I'm not sure they got all that much. 

I'll ask gently: What do you know about Novell's financial state. Other than
the impending layoffs, they had issues with the bank last year. I would like
to become better aware of what you know and what you do not know so that I
don't make unnecessary assumptions.

Oh, wait... I haven't read further yet...


[...]

> Could Microsoft have pulled strings at Wells Fargo to put some
> pressure on Novell and make them need some "quick cash" from
> Microsoft?  Wouldn't that be illegal?  Wouldn't that be extortion?
> Wouldn't that be securities fraud?

That would be hard to prove. Remember that Novell picked up the phone to
negotiate with Microsoft as early as May 2006.


> I do remember similar tactics being used against the CEO of Corel in
> 1999-2000.  Corel decided to port WordPerfect to Linux, created their
> own Linux distribution, and sold Linux to the motherboard makers for
> 50 cents/copy,  which was included in the motherboards ordered by the
> OEMs.  Rumors of financial misconduct by the CEO were circulated, and
> eventually, he was forced to resign, even though it turned out that
> there was no misconduct.  The new management made deals with Microsoft
> that effectively got Corel completely out of the Linux business.

Very interesting.

> What is the context of this quote?

I can't recall, but you can find out if you search the Web. Allchin made other
hostile remarks that targeted Novell. It would take me long to group a decent
sample of them.

> Whas this when they were about to 
> release UnixWare workstation for $200/copy MSRP?  Or when they were
> about to gut a deal with HP for preinstallation of Linux in something
> like 20% of the PCs made by HP?

I really don't know about this. I know little about the past.

> Microsoft has begun to discover that beating Linux is like playing
> "Bop the Beaver".  Knock out Corel, and SUSE pops up.  Knock out
> Caldera and Linspire pops up.  Knock out SUSE and Ubuntu pops up.
> There are 100 Linux distributions, and even if Microsoft is able to
> "bop" one of them, there are 99 more just waiting to take the leader's
> place.
> 
> Even worse for Microsoft, some of these distributors are very
> "Microsoft Hostile".  They don't back down, and they don't sign over
> rights to produce derivative works or software containing patches
> whose copyrights they don't own.
> 
> And Linux isn't one product either.  There are over 6,000 packages,
> almost all of which are supported and managed by non-profit
> organizations, and don't let investors or mutual funds "buy" votes.
> The management is trusted servants directly responsible to all of the
> contributors.

Ballmer had a curious quote to spread some years ago (about 2). I reckon he
wants to congregate all Linux users under a single roof like Novell and them
crush them all like Microsoft crashes companies (the 'death spiral'). It's
like putting sheep in a pen.

> Microsoft is a fascist dictatorship, and Linux is a republic of
> republics.

Well, you said it.

If you carry on thinking that this deal in benign, then I opine that you know
too little (not about the past, but about the past year).

-- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

Maths applied to numbers is like logic applied to statistics. Statistics are
lies.
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