Microsoft and Red Hat Team Up On Virtualization

mjasay writes "For years Microsoft has insisted that open-source vendors acknowledge its patent portfolio as a precursor to interoperability discussions. Today, Microsoft shed that charade and announced an interoperability alliance with Red Hat for virtualization. The nuts-and-bolts of the agreement are somewhat pedantic, providing for Red Hat to validate Windows Server guests to be supported on Red Hat Enterprise virtualization technologies, and other technical support details. But the real crux of the agreement is what isn't there: patents. Red Hat has long held that open standards and open APIs are the key to interoperability, even as Microsoft insisted patents play a critical role in working together, and got Novell to buy in. Today, Red Hat's vision seems to have won out with an interoperability deal heavy on technical integration and light on lawyers."

Comments

Re:Et tu, RedHat?

[Kennon]

Read TFA.

Maybe you should take your own advice...about the original Novell MSFT agreement because Novell also never conceded or acknowledged any of Microsoft's IP claims in Linux either. In fact the language in the agreement specifically stated that Novell was not, and will never acknowledge any of MSFT's IP claims and in fact Novell has donated ALL of their Unix and Linux IP to the common defense of any Linux distributer who needs it to defend against attacks from Microsoft so stuff that in your pipe and smoke it Tommy. You and the OP should try to RTFA yourself before you comment and spread more FUD.

In fact Novell pretty much buried the only real threat to Linux in SCO. We are 3+ years on after the signing of the Novell/MSFT deal and there has been zero legal action by Ballmer and his cronies. Don't you think that if the Novell/MSFT deal was somehow some kind of trap for the GPL we would have seen something by now? Here we all are still holding our breath waiting for "the other shoe to drop" and there is nothing but the sound of a bunch of fear-mongers running around still looking for a cause because they can't find a constructive way to contribute to the Linux community.