Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 4th Jun 2007 16:57 UTC, submitted by WillM
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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RE[6]: Question about patents
by MollyC on Wed 6th Jun 2007 01:42
in reply to "RE[5]: Question about patents"
Member since:2006-07-04
Member since:
2005-07-02
Pro-MS posters (such as MollyC) are in favor of software patents when they feel it can hamper FOSS adoption, and against them when Microsoft itself is found guilty of patent infringement.
It's quite simple, really: software patents benefit no one except those companies who specialize in building patent portfolios solely for purposes of litigation.
Heck, even Bill Gates has expressed serious doubts about software patents...can't we, pro-MS and pro-FOSS advocates, simply all agree that software patents have a negative impact on the software industry as a whole?