Dell went and stuck its head in the lion's mouth by cutting a deal to buy SUSE server licenses off of Microsoft and redistribute them, making it a third leg in the controversial Microsoft-Novell alliance that moved the keepers of the GPL to write the arrangement and anything that smacks of it out of the license.It's unclear whether the Free Software Foundation (FSF), which tends the GPL flame, will have its way - the Microsoft- and Novell-strafing GPL 3 rewrite is still in negotiations - or, if FSF does push its wording through, whether the new license would stand up in court, but the last thing in the world the FSF wanted was to have another company talking about Microsoft and its pledge to indemnify SUSE users against patent infringement - which Dell immediately started doing in the announcement Sunday and in a video on its Direct2Dell web site.
Dell is courting the wrath of the Free Software Foundation and those Linux enthusiasts whose affections it won last week when it announced that it would factory-install Ubuntu on certain of its laptops and desktops.
When asked about it, Dell's spokesman shrugged and said that the FSF imbroglio is "their problem," meaning Microsoft and Novell.
Dell is unclear about the level of demand it has for SUSE, but it is interested in playing the Windows-Linux interoperability card that the Microsoft-Novell alliance promises, particularly around virtualization, Web Services and Office management - and brags about being the "first major systems provider" to align with Microsoft and Novell.
Novell, which was waiting for a blast from the zealots, declined to discuss whether there might be other interested OEMs.
Dell says it was "a natural fit" for Microsoft and Novell "because we don't have a Unix that we are trying to protect," a slap in the face to IBM and HP.
Dell has previously been lukewarm on SUSE, advertising Red Hat pre-installed on some of its servers and only supplying SUSE when asked. At this point it says it's going to establish a services and marketing program around SUSE to migrate existing Linux users who are not Dell Linux customers to SUSE.
The marketing effort is supposed to focus on interoperability workshops, migration proof of concepts and migration services, reflecting what little is known of Dell's turnaround plan and its aim to broaden its services.
As part of its turnaround, Dell has also started talking about "simplifying" IT and naturally interoperability between Linux and Windows and common APIs are supposed to reduce complexity.
Dell VP, solutions Rick Becker called Dell's embrace of the Microsoft-Novell agreement "a huge success for the industry and more specifically for customers who haven't purchased Linux through Dell and who want to migrate to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for the IP assurance and interoperability benefits."
Dell says patent infringement protection is important to customers.
Since the Microsoft-Novell deal was cut in November upwards of 40,000 certificates for three-year priority support subscriptions have reportedly been activated with AIG Technologies, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, HSBC and Wal-Mart taking at least some of them. Novell suggested Dell might resell to some of those accounts.