Updated: The company, while trying to reach a patent agreement with Red Hat, has not ruled out going it alone and providing some sort of indemnification for its customers who use Red Hat Linux.BARCELONA, Spain—While Microsoft is hoping to enter into a patent deal with Red Hat similar to the one it has with Novell, the software giant has not ruled out going it alone and providing some sort of indemnification for its customers who use Red Hat Linux.
Earlier this month, Microsoft agreed not to assert patent rights over any technology included in Novells SUSE Linux and to provide support and technology to allow SUSE Linux to work with Windows.
To read more about Microsofts deal with Novell, click here.
"We would like to strike similar patent deals with all the Linux vendors, but we had to start somewhere. The fact that Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian approached us in this regard made that conversation happen very quickly," Bill Hilf, Microsofts general manager of platform strategy, told eWEEK in an interview here at IT Forum.
But Hilf acknowledged that it is an awkward situation having Microsofts customers who use Novells SUSE Linux covered by the covenant not to sue, while those Windows users running Red Hat Linux are not.
This is all the more significant given that Red Hat is the leading Linux vendor in the United States in terms of market share, meaning that the majority of Microsofts customers who are also using the open-source operating system are running Red Hat Linux.
"Its a tough, awkward situation, and if those customers ask us for some kind of patent indemnification, well look at this. If they ask us to do something, well certainly look at all the options, but the preferred course of action would be for us to strike a similar deal with Red Hat," he said.
But that appears increasingly unlikely, because Mark Webbink, Red Hats deputy general counsel, has all but ruled out any similar agreement with Microsoft, telling eWEEK that "we do not believe there is a need, or basis, for the type of relationship defined in the Microsoft-Novell announcement."
However, Red Hat "has and will continue to work with Microsoft on true interoperability and open standards in the way we did in advising them in the development of their Open Specification Promise," he said.
Hilf, who has been touring Europe since the announcement, admitted that theres been a lot of negativity about the deal in the open-source community. "Our intention with this deal was not to create a problem, but rather to solve one," he said.
As such, Hilf is trying to be more clear about the companys true intentions and trying to translate all the legalese around the deal into something that a layman can understand.
Read here about how Novell defended and explained its patent agreement with Microsoft.
Bob Muglia, Microsofts senior vice president for servers and tools and one of the lead negotiators on the Novell deal, told eWEEK that there were two primary motivations behind that move.
"One was interoperability, which is very positive for us in every sense," he said. "The second is to recognize, unambiguously, that there is value to intellectual property within open-source products that are used by customers, and that that intellectual property should be honored."
The deal provides a structure that makes it easy for customers to acquire their open-source technology while, at the same time, honoring the intellectual rights. "And in that sense we think it is a milestone for the industry," Muglia said.
Asked why Microsoft had agreed not to do a similar deal to encourage the adoption of Linux and Windows virtualization solutions through a subscription certificate program with another Linux vendor for three years, Muglia said this was the advantage Novell got by being first.
"We want to be open with everybody, and there is nothing in the Novell agreement that prevents us from working with the other distribution vendors to get a similar set of intellectual property patent protections for their customers," he said.
"We very much want to make that happen as its good for customers and good for the other distribution vendors," he added.
Can Windows and open source learn to play nice? Click here to read more.
While neither Hilf nor Muglia would give any details about their discussions with Red Hat, Muglia did acknowledge that Microsoft continues to communicate with the Linux vendor and to reach out to it.
"We want to work with them and would like to structure a relationship where Red Hat customers can be assured of the same thing that Novell customers are," he said.
Asked if he thought this was likely, Muglia said that is a question for Red Hat, but added, "I hope so. We really want to do this."
Editors Note: This story was updated to include comments from Red Hats deputy general counsel.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest open-source news, reviews and analysis.
Linux & Open Source 
