[ Thanks to Steven J.
Vaughan-Nichols for this link. ]
“We’re beginning to see who owns Unix and other
intellectual property in the Novell deal. Hint: Microsoft did just
fine for itself. The bare facts of the matter are that the almost
forgotten software company Attachmate has bought Novell and
Microsoft played a large, perhaps critical, role in the Novell
acquisition. We don’t know a lot more than that, but we are
beginning to get a fuller picture of what’s what in the Novell
deal.“First, Unix’s intellectual property (IP) remains with Novell.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that Microsoft still has
ended up with, via the mysterious CPTN Holdings LLC company, owning
882 of Novell’s patents, and perhaps, as you’ll see shortly, much
more besides.”