Whats Up with Novells New Licensing?

You might have missed it, since its really a reseller/channel partner story, but Novell has changed the rules on how its partners will be selling Linux.

In our sister publication, Channel Insider, my colleague, John Hazard, reported that Novell "will no longer force users into CLAs (contract license agreements), which attached service and maintenance agreements to the software deal."

That, in turn, means if you want to buy products from Novells serious SUSE Linux line—SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), Novell Linux Small Business Suite 9, and Open Enterprise Server—youll be paying less after March 1.

Of course, if you want patches, support, and all that other good stuff, that will be another matter.

Still, given how many people can now pass Linux server administration 101, Im sure a lot of people will buy the basic versions.

I presume Novell is counting on this to help boost its overall numbers vs. Red Hats RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

Read the full story on Linux-Watch: Whats Up with Novells New Licensing?

Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest open-source news, reviews and analysis.