Not sure what this is trying to get at but the main thing disturbs me in all of this, is: "it will not assert its patents against individual, non-commercial developers."
What about commercial, educational or, for that matter, *any* organisations who chose to support Open-Source? This seems rather ominous to me. Does this mean that MS is saying that as long as any developer or user is not operating in any serious commercial space or they are in any way organised then we feel OK with FLOSS? Regards, Zane dave wrote: > this is part of a linspire newsletter. > not all of it is here but enough for folks to read the important bit and that > is MS is still trying to kill/stall the march of *nix systems on the desktop. > > I am cynical of MS motives in a lot of ways but just wondered what others > here > think. > > > ***Start of the extract*** > > You see, part of the agreement extends IP protection for Novell's Linux > products. This is the part of the announcement that concerns me and perhaps > contained Microsoft's hidden agenda. This part of their agreement, by its > very nature, suggests two things: 1) that Microsoft HAS IP in open source > Linux, and 2) that Microsoft should be paid a licensing fee for this IP. I > don't think the rest of the world agrees with these points, or that they've > ever been proven in any court. By making such assertions, and now with Novell > as their poster child for these claims, Microsoft is in a position to either > try to kill open source Linux with exorbitant fees, or to make sure they > share in its success, should they prove unable to kill it. > > Since transparently investing in SCO, Microsoft has wanted to find ways to > use > 3rd parties to thwart open source and Linux. I honestly believe Microsoft > would love to point their IP guns directly at Linux and blow it out of the > water, but that would appear too heavy handed, so they need to have one > willing partner to set a price and precedence on that IP. And yesterday, > Microsoft announced that partner. Because of their large patent portfolio, > Novell was the perfect choice. If Microsoft is going to let the "first guy" > off the hook, Novell is a good choice. I'm confident that, just like with the > SCO matter, when you follow the money, not only will you see a lot flowing > from Novell to Microsoft to pay for the IP, but you'll also find lots flowing > from Microsoft to Novell, to off set the IP fees, basically paying Novell to > be Microsoft's poster child for IP payments. > > However, with SCO, their futile scare tactic attempt to stymie the natural > momentum of Linux and Open Source software did nothing but provide editorial > content for the industry trades, bringing even more attention to the Linux > option. Yes, it worried some at first, but when the dust settled, there was > nothing there, leaving Linux more popular than ever. I believe the same will > happen in this instance. Those of us who have been following, or are > specifically involved with Linux and open source software, are keenly aware > that it's an unstoppable movement that continues to weave its way into the > fabric of technology in every industry. Everything that is Linux and open > source is different from the traditional software business models and > Microsoft and Oracle are being forced to make strategic moves and draw > alliances in the Linux space for fear of missing on this opportunity or > losing more customers. As I look at Microsoft's approach towards open source > and Linux, I'm reminded of the famous words of Ghandi: �First they ignore > you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.� While > Microsoft previously ignored and laughed at open source publicly, they're not > laughing any more. This is just another futile effort in their attempts to > fight open source, which signals open source is one step closer to winning, > which I'm confident it will do. > > ***end of the extract**** -- Zane Gilmore, Analyst / Programmer Information Services Section, Information Technology Dept, University of Canterbury - Te Whare Waananga o Waitaha Private Bag 4800, Christchurch New Zealand Phone +64-3-364 2987 extn 7895
