Ballmer Blasted for Linux Stance

Computerworld - Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ball­mer’s declaration that Linux “uses our intellectual property” fanned a firestorm of controversy last week, with Novell Inc. objecting to Ballmer’s characterization of its recent patent deal with Microsoft and some users accusing him of trying to sow fears about using Linux.

At a SQL Server user group conference in Seattle on Nov. 16, Ballmer asserted that every Linux user “basically has an undisclosed balance sheet liability” related to the use of Microsoft’s intellectual property. He also said that as part of a joint development and patent licensing agreement announced earlier this month, Novell had paid Microsoft for the right to tell users of its SUSE Linux software that they are “appropriately covered.”

But Russ Donnan, CIO at Kroll Inc.’s Kroll Factual Data subsidiary in Loveland, Colo., said via e-mail last week that he thinks Ballmer was “posturing for mind share to enterprise executives, knowing it will have little to no impact on IT executives.”

‘Liability’ Dismissed

Kroll Factual Data, which provides credit reports and other business information services, currently uses both Windows and Red Hat Linux on servers in its data centers. Donnan plans to switch the Red Hat servers to Windows for ease of management, but he said the shift has nothing to do with concerns about legal issues.

“I do not believe that my company has an ‘undisclosed balance sheet liability,’” Donnan wrote, adding that “the threat of such a ‘liability’ would not in any way influence” his future buying decisions on operating systems.

Barry Strasnick, CIO at financial services firm CitiStreet LLC in North Quincy, Mass., was even more emphatic in his criticism of Ballmer. Strasnick said via e-mail that he viewed Ballmer’s comments as an attempt to create fear, uncertainty and doubt among Linux users. “FUD may have worked for IBM in the 1970s but not today,” Strasnick wrote.

He added that he had been thinking of moving some applications from Red Hat to Windows, “but this has now totally alienated me from Microsoft.”

Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian also took issue with Ballmer’s comments in an open letter posted on his company’s Web site. “Our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property,” Hovsepian wrote. “We strongly object to the usage of our agreement to suggest that members of the Linux community owe Microsoft any remuneration.”

Microsoft released a statement saying it “respects Novell’s point of view on the patent issue, even while we respectfully take a different view.” Microsoft acknowledged that Novell is “absolutely right” in saying it didn’t admit to any Linux patent problems as part of their agreement.

The companies later held a joint conference call with reporters to say that they remain committed to their alliance, despite the flare-up over Ballmer’s comments.