Microsoft Making Millions Off Novell Linux

Initially done solely to show us that even Novell, a big Linux vendor, admits that Linux breaks Microsoft intellectual property, Microsoft has now found that their agreement with Novell has proved to be very profitable.

According to informationweek.com, “Microsoft has now sold more than 40,000 SUSE Linux certificates to businesses and governments around the world. The company does not, in its own financial statements, report how much revenue that represents. But given that Novell credits the interoperability alliance for generating $356 million in cash inflows, then Microsoft, too, must be raking in millions from selling SUSE Linux service and support.”

While it is evident that Microsoft’s agreement with Novell is different that the one made with other distributions such as Linspire and TurboLinux that did it out of fear of the whole IP propaganda, any financial profits Microsoft does make is still negligible when compared to how much they make from selling Windows and Office to big comapanies and users.