Linspire follows Xandros with a Microsoft patent agreement deal

Linux & Open Source This newsletter is sponsored by Tripwire Time to retire your firefighting gear Preventable "emergencies" and IT busy work keep your staff from focusing on important projects. Download this free whitepaper and learn how you can identify the sources of unplanned work and eliminate them, freeing your staff to concentrate on projects that will truly benefit your enterprise. Network World's Linux & Open Source Newsletter, 06/18/07 Linspire follows Xandros with a Microsoft patent agreement deal By Phil Hochmuth Well, that didn't take long. Count Linspire as another Linux company running under Microsoft's patent protection umbrella. Linspire's deal with Microsoft comes a week after independent Linux distributor Xandros announced it had reached a similar deal with the software giant. Like the Novell and Xandros deals, Linspire's agreement with Microsoft protects Linspire Linux customers from any future patent increment litigation. The deal goes further on the technical front, with several integrations of the two company's technologies — mostly Microsoft code being pushed onto Lindows. From servers to storage: Virtualization saves It's touted as one of the fastest and easiest ways to better manage and control your infrastructure. Download this guide today and see how network IT execs are making virtualization pay off in the real world; discover the 8 virtualization gotchas you need to know; and much more. Click here to download. Linspire will license Microsoft's RT audio codec, and will support Windows Media Player 10 in a future release. Also, Widows Live search will become the default Web search tool on the Lindows Linux desktop. The companies have also agreed to develop interoperability code for Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.org documents. In addition, Linspire will work to make the open source Pidgin (formerly GAIM) instant messaging client work with Windows Live Messenger. The pressure to make a deal with Microsoft comes from the company's claims that Linux and other open source packages such as OpenOffice, violate 235 patents held by the company. Microsoft is not revealing to the public what specific lines of code were stolen by Linux or other software packages; but those who agree to pay Microsoft for the licensing of this code get to see. What's interesting about the Linspire announcement are the pledges to make open source tools such as OpenOffice and Pidgin more interoperable with Microsoft. These packages are free, open source code, which allows anyone to make changes or alterations to the software. But the two respective projects are maintained by groups outside of Linspire. (Like many Linux desktop distributors, Linspire includes the free apps with its software bundle). Breaking open Pidgin or OpenOffice seems to open up an array of issues. Will this produce non-compatible forks of these packages? Linspire has a history of making deals with Microsoft. Linspire was formerly known as Lindows — a clear nose-thumbing at Microsoft — until Microsoft took the company to court several years ago to change the name. It lost the case, but ended up investing $20 million in the company, with the stipulation that it change its name. The terms of Linspire's deal with Microsoft were not announced. Editor's Note: We're sad to report that Phil Hochmuth will be leaving Network World to take up a position as an industry analyst. In place of this newsletter, starting Friday, July 6, you will begin receiving the Linux & Open Source News Alert newsletter, a weekly digest of Linux and open source-related news and opinions written and compiled by LinuxWorld Editor Don Marti. We thank you for supporting our newsletters.   What do you think? Post a comment on this newsletter

Contact the author: Phil Hochmuth is a Network World Senior Editor and a former systems integrator. You can reach him at phochmut@nww.com. This newsletter is sponsored by Tripwire Time to retire your firefighting gear Preventable "emergencies" and IT busy work keep your staff from focusing on important projects. Download this free whitepaper and learn how you can identify the sources of unplanned work and eliminate them, freeing your staff to concentrate on projects that will truly benefit your enterprise. ARCHIVE Archive of the Linux & Open Source Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: security.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007