In an interview with news agency Reuters, Matthew Szulik, CEO of open source software vendor Red Hat, said that his company has entered talks with Microsoft last year, in order to reach some agreement on Microsoft’s patent dispute with commercial open source vendors. Talks broke down before any agreement was reached, however.

Last year, Microsoft announced a pact with RedHat’s competitor, Novell. The two companies agreed to allow their products to interoperate, and Microsoft pledged that it would not pursue Novell or its customers for what it believes to be patent infringement in the Linux kernel.

Earlier in 2007, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer issued a veiled threat to open source users and customers, saying that the company would protect what it considers its intellectual property, even if it meant fining users.

That RedHat failed to negotiate some form of peace treaty with Microsoft puts it in a dangerous situation. With Microsoft on its side, Novell is in a far stronger position: it can offer more interoperable products, and exploit Microsoft’s formidable install base.

Neither RedHat nor Microsoft would confirm or deny whether discussions are currently underway to reach a new agreement.

Further Reading

IA Today - Details of Microsoft Novell pact announced - February 2007
Information Age feature - Open source grows up - November 2006