And Dell makes three (and rude error)

That would be Tuesday's IT Blogwatch: in which Dell joins the Microsoft/Novell partnership. Not to mention a strange and hurtful database connection error message...

Sumner Lemon's not bitter:

Dell Inc. is backing the Windows-Linux partnership set up by Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. As part of the deal, Dell will buy SUSE Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft for corporate customers that are not already using Linux ... Last November, Microsoft and Novell agreed to jointly develop and market products that allow Windows and Linux to work together more smoothly. As part of the deal, Microsoft also agreed to indemnify Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise users from patent claims. The first hardware vendor to join the alliance, Dell said in a statement that it hopes to tap customer demand for interoperability between Windows and Linux.

Dell cited user enthusiasm for the Microsoft-Novell deal as a key factor in its decision. Under terms of the agreement, Dell established a customer marketing team for SUSE Linux Enterprise to target "Linux users who are not Dell Linux customers" ... That qualification is key: Dell already offers a competing version of Linux from Red Hat Inc. to corporate customers.

Wilson Rothman adds:

All of this recent Linux news sounds like a Telemundo soap opera. Last November, Microsoft pledged support—if not undying amor—for Novell's Suse Linux platform. A week ago, Dell responded to pressure from its customers, and decided to get with Ubuntu ("la cervatilla exhuberante") for desktop and laptop systems designed for consumer use. But then...

Today, Dell said it will support Microsoft and Novell. Not only will it sell enterprise servers with the option of Suse Linux, but it will try to migrate self-administering Linux users over to Suse. Apparently, this isn't considered two-timing on Ubuntu, because Dell's relationship with Suse Linux will be strictly business.

I, for one, am not totally sure about Dell's two-timing. Just take a look at its Linux website, and try to explain where the Ubuntu relationship fits into all of this. Girlfriend, it don't count unless you got a ring on your finger.

Alexander Wolfe sets the wayback machine to stun:

Lest you think that the [original] deal was done out of love between the two parties, and that everything's all sweetness and light between Microsoft and Novell, think again. The agreement was an elegant way for both parties to settle disagreements over patents which threatened to get even bigger, and to also attempt to bury the hatchet long enough to do something which would satisfy customers who wanted Linux either along with or instead of Windows.
...
What's important here is not the deal per se, which isn't anything major. What is notable is that Dell is adding another prong to its Linux push, and continuing its run of public support which became high profile only a short while ago, when it announced it would sell PCs equipped with Linux. (Yes, I know today's agreement is for Enterprise Linux, not desktop. My point is Dell's ongoing support for Linux overall.)

Add to that Dell's earlier move to reintroduce Windows XP as an option Vista PCs, and Dell's earlier move to use AMD chips after years as an Intel-only company, and you have the real news at the heart of today's Dell-Novell-Microsoft announcement. Which is that Michael Dell continues to perform impressively in his bid to revive his company, an effort which began when he sacked Kevin Rollins and retook the helm at the end of January.

Microsoft's Don Dodge has his spin:

Customers have been using Linux and Windows for years, but typically on separate servers, and for very different tasks. It is now quite common for a customer to choose Windows to run a CRM or production management system, and choose Linux to run a print server, file server, or a rapidly changing environment.

What has changed is that now customers are using virtualization to better utilize their servers, and they now want to run Windows and Linux on the same server. Customers also wanted assurances that they would not be caught in the crossfire of patent infringement lawsuits between  the vendors.

The Dell announcement and the adoption of customers like Wal-Mart, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are further proof that the industry wants Windows and Linux to work together in a way that protects Intellectual Property.

David Hunter furiously strategizes:

While interoperability is universally beloved like motherhood and apple pie, it’s the pesky “intellectual property (IP) assurance” that is the problem here. The implication that Linux infringes Microsoft patents drives the open source crowd wild and Dell has just thrown away all their open source good will for reasons not immediately clear. Novell needed the money badly, but what’s Dell’s excuse?

Here's the snappily-titled 8127972:

This deal also likely limits the chances of Dell being sued because of some sort of IP related issue. These days, it's all about covering your A**.

And Penguinisto isn't convinced:

I see it as a major step towards Dell selling Linux on a larger scale [but] I sincerely hope this isn't going to become a pattern, where MSFT makes bank every time an OEM moved towards Linux. Something about it just seems plain wrong, and looks like an admission of guilt towards a contention that probably does not exist (the assertion of MSFT somehow owning IP to Linux or OS tech).

But Scarblac reminds us of Linux's license terms:

If they're suggesting they need a patent deal like this to be allowed to distribute Linux, then they are not allowed to distribute it - see the GPL (For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program).

It would open them up to GPL violation law suits.

Last word to IGnatius T Foobar, who alleges an allegation:

In conventional terms, this is known as a "protection racket" and it is quite illegal. Not that the law ever stopped Microsoft before...

Buffer overflow:

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Previously in IT Blogwatch

• Yahoo!/Microsoft! merger! talks! fail! (and game over)
• Do we need a security industry? (and eliminating uncertainty)
• Digg users are revolting (and 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0)
• Dell does Feisty Fawn: Ubuntu Linux preinstall (and more)
• Microsoft shines more light on Silverlight (and happynappy)
• Older posts

And finally... Are you prepared to handle this type of rejection from CVS/Eclipse?

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.