Microsoft trying to make deal with Red Hat?

It is likely that Microsoft's newfound interest in providing patent indemnification to Red Hat customers is just another tactic to try to convince Red Hat to come to the table on Microsoft's terms. Red Hat and its customers don't particularly want or need Microsoft indemnification, and Red Hat can't risk validating Microsoft's claims and fueling community angst by accepting the deal. Even though there isn't really any tangible evidence that Novell's agreement with Microsoft will have a detrimental impact on Novell or the open source community, the negative perception created by such an agreement is well worth avoiding for a company like Red Hat.