But, it gives those folks a new commitment
from Microsoft.
The second thing we did in this area was add a promise that goes to developers, even
developers who are getting paid to create code to OpenSUSE.org, code that Novell then
takes and incorporates into its distribution, and that is then covered under the patent
cooperation agreement between us, because after all Novell is ensuring that our patent
rights are respected in an appropriate way, and that gives us the ability to address the
needs and interests of those individuals.
www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/steve/2006/
11-02NovellInterop.mspx
The actual liability to individual open source software developers, based on statements such as
these from Microsoft, is still unclear. That??™s because there have still been no specific patent claims
in connection with Linux from Microsoft. That said, because I am not a lawyer, my opinions on
the subject should not be taken as legal advice. However, if you want opinions from lawyers on
open source software legality, refer to the Groklaw site (www.groklaw.net). Likewise, here is a
response from Eben Moglen of the Software Freedom Law Center:
I and my firm don??™t take comfort from statement [sic] from Microsoft that they won??™t sue
programmers as long as they don??™t get paid.
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