Microsoft, shrugging off licensing moves to prevent it from repeating its controversial patent deal with Novell, has signed a set of broad collaboration agreements with Linux provider Xandros that include an intellectual property assurance under which Microsoft will provide patent covenants for Xandros customers. In the meantime, Microsoft's covenant not to sue users of Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise will be extended to all General Public License v3 users as soon as Novell includes GPLv3 code within its Linux distribution, according to the Free Software Foundation.
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Member since:2005-07-09
The "It's just business" line is used to justify a lot of business practices that are eventually either found to be illegal, or made illegal once the public or authorities realizes there's a loophole in the system.
I'm sorry but most businesses don't operate the way SCO, Eron, or Worldcom do. What Microsoft is doing is straddles the line between extortion and slander.
They're able to get away with it because they have an army of lawyers and have no market competition. If Chrysler said GM, Ford, Toyota, and hundreds of other car manufacturers violated 235 patents (which they won't disclose because it's too much work to write them down on paper, but trust Chrysler, it knows what it's saying) and advertised regularly that anyone who purchased any "non Chrysler approved" cars could be liable and be forced to junk their car, Chrysler would be sued out of existence.
Member since:2007-01-18
I have no proof or hard evidence, but I'd be willing to bet more business's do business in the gray area than not. Maybe they know it and maybe they don't.
But that wasn't really my point. My point is about the mindset of the people who run these business. While the community surrounding open source finds religion in software the business side of open source is looking for profit.
On the flip side of the coin if the Linux community is absolutely certain that it has infringed on no IP then why not press the issue by taking Microsoft to court or at least yelling very loudly 'put up or shut up'. Nobody on either side really want to go to court. Microsoft doesn't because they might loose or end up being sued themselves for patent infringement. Linux distro's won't because they might actually become liable (and many don't have the funds to fight it).
As for Chrysler. I figure they'd get laughed at as much as SCO did and Microsoft will. Of course the reality there is that Chrysler probably made patent and IP deals with the other car manufacturers. None of these companies really want to go to court to battle it out over patents. Most of the time licensing fees are going to be a lot cheaper than lawyer fees.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2007-01-18
It's just business. Business make deals like this all the time. The only reason it's such a big deal now is because it's between Microsoft and (now) two Linux distributors.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these deals are good or bad or go against the spirit of the open source communities who support Linux. I'm simply saying that the deals are just business as usual.
With that said I still don't think deals like this give any weight to Microsoft's arguments about patents. I'm sure Microsoft will use it to further it's FUD about Linux and I'm sure a few people (business) will base a buying decision on that FUD. However, the reality is that until the patents or IP in question is pushed through the legal system and proven in Microsoft's favor it's nothing more than ramblings of Microsoft.