Novell-Microsoft tie-up attracts criticism

The recent Linux partnership between Microsoft and Novell has come in for criticism from members of the open-source community.

The tie-up, announced in early November, includes a patent cross-licensing agreement that will see Microsoft indemnify firms purchasing Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise Server for all its patents. The aim is to reassure enterprise customers concerned about the prospect of patent-infringement cases when considering open-source software deployments.

However, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), which offers legal services to protect and advance open-source software use, has warned that Microsoft’s patent pledge has “little value”.

According to an open letter from the organisation's chief technology officer, Bradley Kuhn, the agreement only covers software developed at home and used for personal reasons. “The promises don't extend to others when you distribute. You cannot pass the rights to your downstream recipients, even to the maintainers of larger projects on which your contribution is built,” he said. “Further, to qualify for the pledge, a developer must remain unpaid for her work.”

Kuhn added that Microsoft has reserved the right to change its terms, and so could revoke the pledge at any point. “In short, the pledge applies precariously to developers who work in a vacuum: those who write original software in their spare time, receive no payment for it, and do not distribute it to anyone under the GNU GPL,” he argued. “It's worse than useless, as this empty promise can create a false sense of security … developers are no safer from Microsoft patents now than they were before.”

The Novell/Microsoft partnership was similarly received by the team behind Samba, an open-source software suite that offers file and print services for Windows and other systems.

“The Samba Team disapproves strongly of the actions taken by Novell,” it said in a web site post. “The patent agreement struck between Novell and Microsoft is a divisive agreement. It deals with users and creators of free software differently depending on their 'commercial' versus 'non-commercial' status.”

The group added that Novell’s actions go against the ethos of the free software community, and urged the firm to work with the SFLC to undo the patent agreement with Microsoft.