Subtle contradictions at Novell show no signs of abatement. Here's the most recent catch:

Steinman answered that: “Right now, the GPLv3 is still in discussion. The latest draft of GPLv3 is in discussion. According to the latest version that was published on, I think, March 28, under that version, Novell will be able to ship Linux under a GPLv3. Period. There’s nothing in the current draft of GPLv3 that prevents Novell from shipping Linux. What about forking? There’s no need to have that discussion because the current draft of GPLv3 allows us to ship Linux. It’s still in discussion though so we have to wait and see what the final version is”.

That is good news for Novell, but their filing states that “If the Free Software Foundation (FSF) releases a new version of the GNU General Public License with certain currently proposed terms, our business may suffer harm”.

Is optimism from Novell's PR department justified at all? The filing clearly disagrees with the jubilant attitude of Steinman. If you choose to read the article as a whole, there is something to bear in mind. The writer has pro-Novell bias, so readers beware. It's not the first time that he shows this (it's part of a series of articles).

Speaking of the GPLv3, in another blog, it seems like the Microsoft-sponsored fight against GPLv3 continues. It is very unsurprising given what we've already seen. Don't let this fool you.

Lastly, do have a look at Dana's take. He says that "Novell document dump makes it look like a scandal".

Somehow, I don't think playing the same games the Nixon and Bush Administrations made famous is going to bring Novell a lot of love from the open source community.

Dana's interpretation appears to be correct. Once again, Novell's PR is quick to strike back and rebut.