Quoted for its value:
Samba Team Asks Novell to Reconsider
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| The Samba Team disapproves strongly of the actions taken by Novell
| on November 2nd.
|
| One of the fundamental differences between the proprietary software world
| and the free software world is that the proprietary software world
| divides users by forcing them to agree to coercive licensing agreements
| which restrict their rights to share with each other, whereas the free
| software world encourages users to unite and share the benefits of the
| software.
|
| The patent agreement struck between Novell and Microsoft is a
| divisive agreement. It deals with users and creators of free
| software differently depending on their "commercial" versus
| "non-commercial" status, and deals with them differently depending
| on whether they obtained their free software directly from Novell
| or from someone else.
|
| The goals of the Free Software community and the GNU GPL allow for
| no such distinctions.
|
| Furthermore, the GPL makes it clear that all distributors of GPL'd
| software must stand together in the fight against software patents.
| Only by standing together do we stand a chance of defending against
| the peril represented by software patents. With this agreement Novelli
| s attempting to destroy that unified defense, exchanging the long
| term interests of the entire Free Software community for a short
| term advantage for Novell over their competitors.
|
| For Novell to make this deal shows a profound disregard for the
| relationship that they have with the Free Software community. We
| are, in essence, their suppliers, and Novell should know that they
| have no right to make self serving deals on behalf of others which
| run contrary to the goals and ideals of the Free Software community.
|
| Using patents as competitive tools in the free software world is
| not acceptable. Novell, as a participant in numerous debates,
| discussions and conferences on the topic knew this to be the case.
| We call upon Novell to work with the Software Freedom Law Center to
| undo the patent agreement and acknowledge its obligations as a
| beneficiary of the Free Software community.
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http://news.samba.org/announcements/team_to_novell/
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