Is Microsoft Violating Some Patents Covering Open Source?

Acknowledging that some of the feedback about the deal had been "brutal," Dragoon said "it hurts at a very personal level. What Im trying to do is encourage the community, which is so passionate about its beliefs, to see the broader picture, which is that what we are trying to do is very much aligned with their agenda. It is to advantage, as best we can, Linux and open source at an enterprise level," he said.

Novell believed that its open letter made its position on the deal and its implications quite clear, and it was hopeful that the community would give it the opportunity to "restore and repair those relationships in the light of what our intentions were, and our positions and actions are, around this," he said.

"But that is going to take time, as this is a very emotional argument for them, and I understand that and their passion about their positions. But they are very important stakeholders in Novell, and that is why we felt it important to release this open letter, which explains our position in very certain terms," he said.

Dragoon also lashed out at Red Hat, which has rejected out of hand the possibility of doing a similar deal with Microsoft.

Read more here about how Red Hat has rejected a similar deal with Microsoft.

"They [Red Hat] are talking out of both sides of their mouth. They were co-founders with us of the Open Invention Network, so clearly they have a view that intellectual property and patents have some role within this broader space. So I think it is a convenient position for them to take, but frankly I think if you look at their actions, those represent a more pragmatic, a different view," he said.

Red Hat had also been "kicked twice in the past few weeks," Dragoon said, referring to the Oracle Unbreakable Linux announcement and Novells deal with Microsoft, "so I think you need to put their comments in the right context."

But, adding to Novells woes, is the fact that Jerry Rosenthal, the chief executive officer of Open Invention Network, an intellectual property company formed to further the Linux environment by acquiring patents and ensuring their availability, has joined the chorus against the patent indemnification deal between Novell and Microsoft.

In a statement released Nov. 21, he said that OIN did not see the need for this kind of patent coverage, clients were not asking for it and there had never been a patent suit against Linux to its knowledge.

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