Linux advocates wary of Novell-Microsoft tie

Novell investors may be cheering the Linux vendor's historic partnership with Microsoft, but Linux advocates had an entirely different reaction Thursday, expressing concerns that the deal may hint at future patent lawsuits and possibly even violate Linux' software licence.

"Excuse me while I go throw up," wrote Pamela Jones, the editor of the Groklaw.net blog, which tracks legal issues in the free software community.

"I gather Microsoft no longer thinks Linux is a cancer or communism. Now it just wants a patent royalty." Microsoft and Novell have agreed to work together on marketing and development of their respective products, and pledged to make it easier for Windows and Novell's SuSE Linux to co-exist in the data centre.

But, included in that announcement is a patent cross-licensing agreement that is raising concerns. As part of the agreement, Microsoft has said that it will not sue non-commercial Linux developers and users of SuSE Linux, but some worry that this move leaves the door open for the company to sue other Linux companies or even Linux users.