Novell removes proprietary software from its Linux distribution

Linux company Novell has said that they are no longer shipping proprietary software with its Linux server and desktop products.

This is to prevent any legal hassles for their users and corporate customers. The company recently launched SuSE Linux Enterprise 10 server and desktop under the GNU General Public License and they are prohibiting Linux distributors from shipping the open-source operating system with proprietary software that hooks to the Linux kernel.

These applications usually are proprietary drivers used to run video cards, sound cards, printers or other devices.

Justin Steinman, director of product marketing for Novell’s Linux distribution said on this decision of the company: “We wanted to be consistent, and we wanted to be clean. We wanted to make sure that (the product) was as clean as possible for our customers, and they weren’t going to be subject to any legal issues that come from installing SuSE Linux Enterprise. I don’t want to cause my customers any problems.”

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