"The deal effectively makes Microsoft a reseller of Suse Linux, Novell's version of the operating system, and kicks off a broad technology collaboration between the two companies. At the heart of the deal is a "patent covenant" under which Microsoft agreed not to file patent-infringement charges against users of Suse Linux, and Novell agreed not to sue users of Windows," reckons The Wall Street Journal.
Financial terms weren't disclosed, but involve various payments between the two companies, including Microsoft's paying Novell for a minimum of roughly 70,000 "coupons" that Microsoft corporate customers can convert into annual subscriptions to receive support for Suse Linux. The value of each of those coupons varies between roughly $400 and $1,500 a year, Novell Chief Executive Ron Hovsepian said. Other payments include a "running royalty" stemming from the patent covenant that Novell will pay to Microsoft, executives at the companies said.
The companies said the set of agreements, expected to be in force until at least 2012, will include a joint research facility at which Microsoft and Novell will design and test software combinations, and work with customers and software developers to build and support those technologies. Microsoft also will recommend Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise for customers that want Windows and Linux. "We definitely want customers who chose to run both Windows and Linux to choose Novell," Mr. Ballmer said.
Comment: Novell is involved with devloping software that supports Microsoft.net on Linux. Otherwise, Joe Wilcox at Jupieter Research's Microsoft Monitor has more useful info abot the deal, beyond the WSJ's coverage.
