Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderingKnight
Microsoft is excluding any software licensed under the new GPLv3 from their recent patent protection deal with Linspire.... In addition to excluding GPLv3 software from the Linspire deal, Microsoft recently said that it wouldn't distribute any GPLv3 software under its SUSE Linux alliance with Novell, even as it maintains in public statements that the antilawsuit provisions in the license have no legal weight |
I was very surprised by the comment about Novell, then I found this
related story. Microsoft says it won't distribute a version of SuSE Enterprise that includes GPLv3 code, but the next version of SuSE is almost guaranteed to carry v3 code, and Novell has publicly announced that they intend to incorporate v3 code into their products.
The most important part of the Novell article was this:
"How the decision will impact large enterprise customers, such as Wal-Mart Stores, that have already purchased certificates for Novell's SUSE Linux through Microsoft -- presumably with the expectation of receiving future updates -- was not immediately clear."
So let's say Wal-Mart turns in a coupon after v3-flavored SuSE is released. Will Microsoft refuse to honor the coupon and risk a suit for breach of contract? One coupon is small peanuts, but Wal-Mart, already a big Linux user, allegedly stocked up on thousands. They'd probably have no trouble showing "harm" as a breach plaintiff if Microsoft reneges. Maybe MS will try to push or bribe Novell to continue a fork of v2-only versions? Or, even more intriguing, will Microsoft take on the task of supporting the current version of SuSE Enterprise itself and maintain v2-clean repositories for updates. Maybe the day of "Microsoft Linux" is closer than we think.
Of course, our hypothetical plaintiff ("Wal-Mart") will still first have to show that Microsoft is in violation of the GPLv3 license; all that stuff about the meaning of "convey" will come up first. If Microsoft can prove its contention that the license doesn't apply to their act of distributing coupons, then they can give them out to their hearts' content. If the courts rule that MS is bound by the license, then it'll be interesting to see what strategy Microsoft will choose to comply. I'd guess three or more years out at least, though, folks. Those wheels of justice rotate slowly.