Here is an interview on linuxinterviews.com with Justin Steinman, Director of Marketing for Linux & Open Platform Solutions for Novell.

From the Interview:

LinuxInterviews.com: Microsoft will not attack open-source developers as long as they are not connected with commercial software. However, this agreement does not cover other Linux vendors. Do you think Microsoft will exercise it's rights may there be the case?

Justin Steinman: Microsoft and Novell felt it was important to establish a precedent for the individual, non-commercial open source developer community that potential patent litigation need not be a concern. Microsoft is excited to more actively participate in the open source community and Novell is, and will continue to be, an important enabler for this bridge. For these reasons, both Novell and Microsoft felt it was appropriate to make the pledge for Microsoft not to assert its patents against the non-commercial community. Microsoft can and has spoken for itself regarding other Linux vendors, and we refer you to those public statements.

Of course, the term Non-Commercial has already been analyzed, and declared worse than useless.