by Mary Jo Foley
November 18th, 2008 @ 11:18 am

Two years ago this month, in November 2006, Microsoft inked its controversial cross-licensing pact with Novell. In exchange for Microsoft distributing to its customers certificates for Novell’s SuSE Linux, Novell basically conceded that its implementation of Linux violated Microsoft patents and agreed its customers needed patent-enforcement protection.

(That’s not how Novell or Microsoft likes to portray the arrangement, but that’s what it boiled down to, in essence.) Since the agreement was forged, a lot has happened. In the first few months after Novell and Microsoft announced their deal, Microsoft convinced a number of smaller Linux players they needed similar “patent protection” coverage. Among those who signed on Microsoft’s dotted patent-infringement line: Linspire and Xandros.

Red Hat held firm and wouldn’t succumb to CEO Steve Ballmer’s infringement sabre-rattling. In March 2007, Yankee Group issued a study noting that Novell’s share was growing vis-a-vis Red Hat’s, and said Microsoft’s certificate distribution was the main reason. And Microsoft and Novell proudly touted customers who they claimed were eager to seek shelter from potential Microsoft patent lawsuits by signing up for SuSE Linux.

In February 2007, Ballmer stated in no uncertain terms that the deal between Microsoft and Novell was proof that open-source vendors need to respect Microsoft’s intellectual property. One month later,Microsoft licensing officials made the bold (and as still publicly unsupported) claim that Linux and other free software violated 235 Microsoft patents.