For all of you who use SUSE as your flavour of Linux, Microsoft and Novell signed a somewhat strange deal last week, with Novell handing over US$40million in return for Microsoft promising not to sue customers using SUSE Linux for patent infringement.

Although Novell deny that SUSE actually infringes any patents held by Microsoft, the deal became even more interesting when Steve Ballmer weighed in at the Seattle SQL conference and stated that SUSE does infringe on MS patents.

This then prompted Novell to issue another statement denying patent infringement, while Microsoft issued a press release agreeing to disagree.

It's just as likely that the patent deal is Microsoft's quid pro quo for funding Novell to the tune of  US$240 million for "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscription certificates".

The upshot is that SUSE users should be protected from the wrath of Microsoft, although it's questionable whether it was money well spent to protect against the possibility of a threat Novell deny exists, particularly considering the cost will eventually be passed on through higher licence fees.

Novell's Statement
http://www.novell.com/news/press/item.jsp?id=1199

Ballmer's speech
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/108806.asp

Novell's denial
http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/community_open_letter.html

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