Is part of the Novell deal a slow motion SCO replay? Here's Ballmer:

"Novell pays us some money for the right to tell customers that anybody who uses SUSE Linux is appropriately covered," Ballmer said. This "is important to us, because [otherwise] we believe every Linux customer basically has an undisclosed balance-sheet liability."

Meanwhile, a statement on Novell's site after the deal said, in part:

the agreement had nothing to do with any known infringement.

Color me skeptical.

Technorati Tags: linux, Novell, SCO