Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 17th Jun 2007 17:42 UTC
"There's a rumour circulating that Ubuntu is in discussions with Microsoft aimed at an agreement along the lines they have concluded recently with Linspire, Xandros, Novell, etc. For the record, let me state my position, and I think this is also roughly the position of Canonical and the Ubuntu Community Council though I haven't caucused with the CC on this specifically. We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent infringements."
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Member since:2006-02-05
First of all, lets say MS were able to sink redhat, and force sun, novell, and IBM to back off. Sure, they wouldnt have killed linux, but they would have seriously hurt its development, as those four companies employ the majority of open source all-stars.
Secondly, this isnt putting pressure on vendors through OEM deals, or leveraging their control of the platform to gain an unfair advantage in other arenas. This is patent violation, and there is nothing legally wrong with them enforcing their rights. Of course, anyone with even a small understanding of technology would say they should never have ownership of half of the ideas they own, but that is another issue entirely.
Member since:2007-02-17
This is patent violation, and there is nothing legally wrong with them enforcing their rights.
No, it is not. It is Microsoft FUDding that there is a patent violation. This is merely an unsupported claim by Microsoft.
Until Microsoft name the specific patents, and show where they allege Linux violates them, there is no real claim here at all.
Even when Microsoft deigns to be specific, it still has to be established that the patents involved are valid, that there is no relevant prior art or other prior permission (such as the IBM technical bulletin), and that Linux does really violate those patents.
Until all of that is established, there is no patent violation.
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Member since:
2006-05-12
Personally, I think it would be foolish to announce to "the enemy" that you're coming for them, and then provide specifics on just how you intend on doing it.
MS is a monopoly. They could attack some Linux companies but could never kill Linux, and doing it would land them in some serious legal trouble.