One year after sealing their surprise alliance, Novell and Microsoft have announced an expansion of their technical collaboration to "link together the existing Windows and Linux frameworks".

While many Linux users hated the idea of the Microsoft/Novell partnership from the start, Ian Bruce, director of Novell public relations, says that “Customers drove” the latest expansion of the Novell/Microsoft deal.

If you recall, Novell's former best friend for SUSE Linux was Microsoft. Microsoft and Novell have a partnership where the two parties had certificates that indemnified SUSE users from any intellectual property liability. In addition, Microsoft officially recommended SUSE Linux Enterprise for hybrid Windows/Linux shops.

The alliance between Microsoft Corp. and Novell Corp. continues to bear fruit three years after it was first signed, say the two companies -- one the world's largest proprietary software vendor, the other one of the largest open-source companies.

I've been thinking about something for a few days now. It's about the latest Novell-Microsoft deal that was announced on August 20, where Microsoft agreed to buy another $100 million worth of vouchers from Novell. I was wondering: how come two public companies can make a deal that seems to me to be material and yet keep pieces of the deal secret?

On the back of defending the agreement this week, Novell did as promised and published details of its landmark November 2006 Linux partnership agreements with Microsoft.

Linux software vendor Novell Inc. of Waltham is expanding its alliance with Microsoft Corp. into China, in a bid to encourage Chinese companies to start paying for the software they use to run their businesses.

Microsoft and Novell are close to completing the sales targets that formed part of their alliance, three years into the five-year deal, representatives from the companies said on Thursday.

Novell executives said this week that it's seven-year-old Linux business has finally broken even -- making good on promises made a year ago. But it hasn't been an easy trek to begin making money off of Linux, and one factor may way against Novell's Linux business going forward...