Red Hat will only sign an interoperability agreement with Microsoft if it is based entirely on open standards, the company's executive vice president of engineering Paul Cormier told vnunet.com.

"Interoperability done on closed APIs isn't interoperability," Cormier said. "We'll never do interoperability based on closed APIs."

He reconfirmed that Red Hat is actively talking to Microsoft to improve the way that Red Hat's Linux distribution and Windows interoperate. His comments indicate however that Red Hat isn't interested in an agreement similar to the one that Novell signed with Microsoft last November. The company instead argued that it wouldn't require such an agreement because open standards should already guarantee interoperability.

"That challenge can be met by the work that we are doing with open standards, " said Timothy Yeaton, Red Hat's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. "It shouldn't require an agreement."

News source: computing.co.uk



There are 6 additional comments
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(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #1 Posted by BigBoy on 11 May 2007 - 20:57
Well, I guess we'll see. They can say whatever they want but think about this:

Does RedHat need this deal more than Microsoft does, or is it the other way around?

In other words - this is probably just hot air. They should definitely not sign anything they don't agree with but - insisting on open standards only will nto get them far.
Quote this comment #1.1 Posted by vetmarkjensen on 11 May 2007 - 22:27
How far does a legal agreement get them? Think it is doing wonders for Novell?
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #2 Posted by Budious on 12 May 2007 - 01:53
RedHat is establishing their dominance on Microsoft by making them bow to their requirements instead of giving into to them. That must pop Mr. Balmer's bubble something rough. I like their approach to require Microsoft to comply with open standards to meet interoperability. This isn't near as sour as the Novell deal so hopefully future compatibility will benefit all systems and just not RedHat. I think it's a smart move on RedHat's part.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #3 Posted by +Hills420 on 12 May 2007 - 02:22
I love the fact that Red Hat is demanding something from Microsoft.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #4 Posted by +Beastage on 12 May 2007 - 11:07
Considering how fast ubuntu gets popular... red hat better sign any deal fast....
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #5 Posted by C_Guy on 15 May 2007 - 15:31
They make sense - if you're working with open standards it should make any sort of agreement between companies unnecessary.
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