Microsoft and Novell have struck a deal to make their
operating systems work together better. The agreement will be in
place until at least 2012, and covers interoperability and support
for Microsoft Windows and Novell SuSE Linux.
Microsoft will officially recommend SuSE Linux Enterprise to its
customers who want a robust Linux system, and the two companies
will shield users from potential intellectual property issues by
drafting cross-licensing agreements.
Microsoft and Novell will create a joint research facility where
they will concentrate on making various parts of their applications
work better together. These will include their Active Directory and
eDirectory software and their OpenDocument and Open XML office
application formats.
The research facility will also focus on virtualisation and web
services for physical and virtual server management.
Michael Dortch, lead analyst at Robert Frances Group, said,
“Environments that mix Windows and other proprietary solutions with
Linux and other open source alternatives are the rule, not the
exception. Such environments can only benefit from closer
co-operation between key suppliers, when that co-operation helps to
improve integration, interoperability, and manageability.”
Chris Papayianni, Novell’s area general manager for the western
region, said, “It is never easy getting competitors to work
together but the one thing that is coming over loud and clear is
customers are demanding better interoperability, security and
manageability.
“We will continue to compete in a number of arenas, including
the desktop, identity and security management, and systems and
resource management. At the product level, Windows and SuSE Linux
Enterprise will continue to compete; however, the agreement is
focused on making it easier for customers who want to run both
Windows and Linux to do so.”
Bill Hilf, Microsoft general manager platform strategy, and head
of its open source labs, said that the work on patent
cross-licensing would be crucial to users.
“A large part of our customer base say they know there is an
issue here with patents and intellectual property and don’t want to
find themselves in a legal situation. They want to get that peace
of mind through the supplier, and not have to buy separate
insurance policies.”
Red Hat offers patent indemnity >>
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