Microsoft tries to sidestep GPL 3 with to their SuSe coupons
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 12:31 pm
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9740278-7.html
Well isn't that special...Microsoft on Thursday began taking evasive action to avoid being pinned down by provisions in the new version 3 of the General Public License (GPL).
The company issued a statement declaring itself not a party to GPL 3. And regarding coupons it sells that entitle customers to Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server, customers won't get support from Novell or anyone else for any GPL 3 software in that package.
"At this point in time, in order to avoid any doubt or legal debate on this issue, Microsoft has decided that the Novell support certificates that we distribute to customers will not entitle the recipient to receive from Novell, or any other party, any subscription for support and updates relating to any code licensed under GPL 3," the company said, though it left the door open to a revision of this policy later.
Novell customer calling for support: "Hey, I'm getting this particular bug."
Novell Support: "Oh yeah, hmm, sorry, you see that's related to a GPLv3 package, so we're not gonna be able to help you with that. Call us back when you have a problem with a GPLv2 package. Thanks for going with Novell and Microsoft. Have a great day."