Regarding the 350,000 SUSE Linux support certificates Microsoft pledged to distribute over five years as part of the deal with Novell, Bond said there have been some enquiries from local customers but "that's a marketing and sales program".

If the open source industry is worried about software patents, Microsoft certainly isn't with Bond saying customers needn't be concerned as "the trust is there" and Microsoft "will be open" about its patents and intellectual property.

"Customers that have chosen Novell have patent indemnity," Bond said, adding general open source developers can "go for it" without any risk of patent litigation.

"At a company level, our future is tied to the value of IP and the business benefit from that," she said. "It comes down to the commercial reality of being in business."

Vendor agreements or not, Bond said customers generally don't want to get involved with patent discussions.