Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 6th Oct 2008 10:37 UTC, submitted by John Mills
The Mono project has released Mono 2.0. As most of you will know, Mono is an open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and other operating systems. The 2.0 release comes packed with new features, the main ones being the compiler upgrade to C# 3.0 with support for LINQ, as well as the inclusion of ADO.NET 2.0, ASP.NET 2.0 and System.Windows.Forms 2.0. The release notes detail all the changes and new features.
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Member since:2005-07-07
Microsoft did not claim its own patents in the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel is, after all, a UNIX work-alike, whereas the NT kernel is a VMS work-alike.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2189833/microsoft-claims-patents-...
Samba is OK. Samba is a free software implementation of the SMB protocol, which is an IBM invention.
Have you ever heard of CIFS?
... stop using any software where Microsoft can feasibly claim that you would need a license from them (even where Microsoft did not write the code you are running), because Microsoft hold prehaps-valid patents in the applicable technology. Yes. Indeed. Agreed. Precisely the point.
Have you ever read a software patent. They are so broad that everything in the open source world probably infringes on at least one of Microsoft's patents.
That is also why it is absolutely fine for me to run the Linux kernel, GNU software, KDE desktop, Qt libraries, Samba, LAMP stack, even ntfs-3g (since Microsoft clearly didn't invent the concept of "filesystem")
I'm happy for you. Run the software you want to run. No one cares. We just don't like you shoving your opinions down everyone's throat and spreading massive FUD because of your own irrational fears.
Member since:2007-02-17
Microsoft did not claim its own patents in the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel is, after all, a UNIX work-alike, whereas the NT kernel is a VMS work-alike.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2189833/microsoft-claims-patents-... "The company claims that the Linux kernel violates 42 of Microsoft's patents, that the graphical user interface such as the Gnome and KDE projects fall foul of another 65 and that OpenOffice infringes 45."
That is what is called an "ambit claim". More on this later.
The software giant did not identify any individual patents on which the software infringes because that could allow open source developers either to challenge the patent or change the software to circumvent the patent.
Precisely so. The fact that Microsoft won't name the claimed patents means that Microsoft knows the claims are weak, and easily defended.
... and furthermore, as soon as Microsoft made such a claim, SFLC and the Linux Foundation would cherry-pick from the patent holdings of OIN and the Patent commons, and couter-claim with at least as many patent claims right back at Microsoft.
"Samba is OK. Samba is a free software implementation of the SMB protocol, which is an IBM invention.
Have you ever heard of CIFS? "
Sure I have. CIFS is a new name that Microsoft gave to the SMB protocol, because people realised that the SMB protocol was actually invented by IBM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cifs
Note that the Samba program is not part of the Linux kernel, it is not KDE nor GNOME, and it is not OpenOffice. So Microsoftie quoted in the article you linked to actually made no claims at all of patent infringement by Samba.
"... stop using any software where Microsoft can feasibly claim that you would need a license from them (even where Microsoft did not write the code you are running), because Microsoft hold prehaps-valid patents in the applicable technology. Yes. Indeed. Agreed. Precisely the point.
Have you ever read a software patent. They are so broad that everything in the open source world probably infringes on at least one of Microsoft's patents. " And everything in Windows probably infringes on at least one of the patents held by the OIN and the Patent Commons. So? We knew that already. It is all a part of the "mutually assured destruction" scenario. This is actually the reason why Microsoft does not sue Linux.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Invention_Network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_Commons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Technical_Disclosure_Bulletin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_and_free_software#Tec...
Look at this one, for example:
"Novell donated the valuable Commerce One web services patents to OIN. These potentially threaten anyone who uses web services."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_One
"That is also why it is absolutely fine for me to run the Linux kernel, GNU software, KDE desktop, Qt libraries, Samba, LAMP stack, even ntfs-3g (since Microsoft clearly didn't invent the concept of "filesystem")
I'm happy for you. Run the software you want to run. No one cares. We just don't like you shoving your opinions down everyone's throat and spreading massive FUD because of your own irrational fears. " Pfft. Blow it out your rear.
Member since:
2007-02-17
Microsoft did not claim its own patents in the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel is, after all, a UNIX work-alike, whereas the NT kernel is a VMS work-alike.
Samba is OK. Samba is a free software implementation of the SMB protocol, which is an IBM invention.
Wine is more problematic, and in some respects it indeed parallels Mono.
I personally don't run Wine either. I'd rather find a native Linux application that does a similar job to any given Windows application. Very often, the Linux application will be better anyway.
... stop using any software where Microsoft can feasibly claim that you would need a license from them (even where Microsoft did not write the code you are running), because Microsoft hold prehaps-valid patents in the applicable technology. Yes. Indeed. Agreed. Precisely the point.
That is why I don't run Wine or Mono.
That is also why it is absolutely fine for me to run the Linux kernel, GNU software, KDE desktop, Qt libraries, Samba, LAMP stack, even ntfs-3g (since Microsoft clearly didn't invent the concept of "filesystem"), OpenOffice (since Microsoft did not invent the concept of "office suite"), Firefox (Microsoft didn't invent the web browser), Thunderbird (Microsoft didn't invent the email client), and so on.
Microsoft did, however, invent the Win32 API, and Microsoft did invent the .NET framework.
Edited 2008-10-07 01:27 UTC