Microsoft signs up Xandros

[Jerome Gotangco]

On 6/5/07, Jonathan Carter <jonathan at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> Microsoft has signed up another Linux distributor in a patent-licensing
> and collaboration deal similar to the one it struck with Novell last
> year, writes InfoWorld

Yeah its quite similar to the one with Novell, but made it a wee-bit
broader in scope. Most of the stuff is sugar coating for sure, since
the core piece of agreement is compliance with Microsoft's IP or what
they claim to be infringing on their IPs without specifying.

The official press release is at
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jun07/06-04XandrosPR.mspx

> Xandros, which offers desktop and server versions of Linux, has agreed
> to license Microsoft intellectual property (IP), said Bob Muglia, senior
> vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. He dropped
> the news in the middle of a keynote Monday at the company's TechEd 2007
> conference in Orlando.

I have a friend who used to work with Xandros ever since the Corel
days and left recently and what I remember him saying before that the
core competency of Xandros is pretty much interop between Windows and
Xandros which is pretty evident of their product offering especially
on the server side. In a way it does benefit Xandros with their core
competency, but at the same time, asserts MS' claims of patent
infringement of Linux-related technologies without specifying. Are we
seeing an emerging business for MS? Most probably. If they get to sign
one more known commercial distro developer then its a trend ;-)


-- 
Best,

Jerome Gotangco