[Wftl-lug] Fw: Ballmer repeats threats against Linux

[jon]

I wouldn't stress too much - sounds like Ballmer (or as we call him,
Ball-less) is shooting his fat mouth off again.

 

As for the Novell / M$ deal, not only could this spell the death-knell for
SuSE as an Open Source distro, but if M$ has some wacky idea about "buying"
the IP of Linux and making it proprietary, they are in for a rude shock.

 

 

From: wftl-lug-bounces at salmar.com [mailto:wftl-lug-bounces at salmar.com] On
Behalf Of greg.s.larramore at rrd.com
Sent: Thursday, 22 February 2007 08:10
To: wftl-lug at salmar.com
Subject: [Wftl-lug] Fw: Ballmer repeats threats against Linux

 


Steve Ballmer has reissued Microsoft's patent threat against Linux,
warning open-source vendors that they must respect his company's
intellectual property.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Ballmer_repeats_threats_against_Li
nux/0,130061733,339273726,00.htm

Does anyone have a good understanding of what the Microsoft-Novell deal is
about and what it could possibly mean (perhaps a worst-case scenario) to
Linux and FOSS? 

How does the "patent co-operation agreement" protect Novell and MS from one
another? If they weren't in agreement, what could be a situation where one
would sue the other? 

What is the intellectual property that Microsoft is suggesting it has the
rights to? 

On what basis or grounds could MS potentially sue a Linux vendor? 

What are the "open source tokens" or coupons that the article mentions near
the end? It sounds like Microsoft is selling these. How much do they cost,
and what are they for/how are they used? 

I haven't followed this news item, and would like to be brought up to speed
by any of you who have tracked the matter and have a pretty good
understanding of it. Links to concise but informative web sites/articles are
welcome, too. 

Thank you!

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