Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Linux violates more than 228 patents, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at the company's Asian Government Leaders Forum in Singapore on Thursday. He did not provide any details on the alleged violations, which the Linux community disputes. 'Someday, for all countries that are entering the WTO (World Trade Organisation), somebody will come and look for money owing to the rights for that intellectual property,' he added."
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:17 UTC (Thu)
by Ajarn (guest, #8521)
[Link] (5 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:54 UTC (Thu)
by emkey (guest, #144)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 20:28 UTC (Thu)
by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054)
[Link] (3 responses)
My worry, which I haven't seen expressed yet, is based on the
different antagonists. SCO is a fleaweight compared to IBM, and look
at the time and cost so far. We're damn' lucky
IBM is on our side for SCO.
But look at IBM's and MS's respective sizes. (I'm probably naive,
going by market
capitalization, even though it's strongly suggested that MSFT tweaks
their books to maintain it.) MSFT is worth over twice IBM in the market. (Anyone
with more knowledge of these things, please speak up. I got the
info from an
amateur site, but it looks plausible. [Turn on Javascript to see
the current numbers]).
What this adds up to is that IBM would have a hell of a lot more
resistance if MS tried patent pummelling. I don't know whether IBM
could bring their patents to bear, since I suspect they have mutual
patent licensing. Anyway, if MS gets directly involved, it's an
entirely different fight.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 1:56 UTC (Fri)
by rise (guest, #5045)
[Link] (2 responses)
You were right to worry about naivete on that front, Microsoft's market cap is based on Wall Street's assessment of a very profitable monopoly. IBM earns a smaller profit, but they're much larger - 2.5x revenues, 5.6x employees (and jobs are political power these days), worldwide operations that dwarf MS's, the largest patent portfolio in the world by at least 50% (many of them fundamental patents that are a huge threat to MS), and a legal team that MS has good reason to be wary of. Other than the anti-trust imbroglio their legal team's record in the courts has been pretty spotty—in part because the company consistently gives them a week hand—but even there they lost, their primary victory was through the political sphere.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 20:34 UTC (Fri)
by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 20, 2004 0:53 UTC (Sat)
by rise (guest, #5045)
[Link]
You're welcome, and I forgot to credit the source—finance.yahoo.com. It's actually a decent site for a quick look at the financials of a company:
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:27 UTC (Thu)
by JohnBell (guest, #12625)
[Link] (1 responses)
Tell me something, Microsoft... what are you going to do, send in the Marines every time someone decides not to use your shovelware? Hey, good luck with that.
As for saying that X number of patents are violated in Linux... PROVE IT. Bring out your patent portfolio and START ENFORCING YOUR PATENTS. Until you do that, no one should give you the time of day when you start rattling your patent sabres. In fact, the sooner you start actively enforcing your patents the better... the US patent system will be exposed for the fruitcake system that it is, and you'll be buried under so much prior art by competing companies that you'll be sucking paper through your blowhole for the next 50 years - IBM = "I Buried Microsoft" will take on a whole new meaning for you. How's THAT for a scaredy cat tactic? *booga booga*
When are people going to learn that, if you eliminate the chance for upward mobility, then those on the bottom will do everything they can to find a way to tear you down? If you're not an engine for growth and change, then you're an obstacle, and you will be treated as such.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 0:43 UTC (Fri)
by jhs (guest, #12429)
[Link]
This is true today, but likely not true in the future. My experience is Thailand, where there is still little recognition for foreign intellectual propertity rights (a common trend with developing countries, including the early United States, as documented by Lessig). However, the BSA is here and every year the country moves closer to respecting global copyright and patent law. This is mandatory if a country wishes to participate in the global economy. They will see increased pressure fromt he west to enforce their laws and treaties, since so much value lies in intellectual property. This is a good thing for everybody, including/especially open source software markets.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:36 UTC (Thu)
by foo (guest, #1117)
[Link] (3 responses)
It sounds like he's just trying to contrast MS's indemnification
Also, here's a quiet lament for the unexpectedly low quality of most
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:40 UTC (Thu)
by JohnBell (guest, #12625)
[Link] (1 responses)
It's not too much of a stretch to read between the lines when the veiled threats are delivered with a hammer :-P.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:19 UTC (Thu)
by ccchips (subscriber, #3222)
[Link]
I've said this before: if an extraterrestrial intelligence ever had designs on this planet, that would be it for us.
We need to put the pigs and the thugs in jail, where they belong, and start to learn to get along with one another.
As for Ballmer's big mouth, I have this to say: When will Microsoft stop making me regret giving them so much support in the early '90s, and start FIXING THEIR SOFTWARE TO WORK PROPERLY, instead of badmouthing everybody else?
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:44 UTC (Thu)
by AJWM (guest, #15888)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:36 UTC (Thu)
by JohnBell (guest, #12625)
[Link] (2 responses)
At which point I say, "If you'd spent half as much effort on cleaning up your room as you spent complaining about having to do it, you'd be DONE by now".
The same thing with Linux. The companies that didn't spend a lot of time complaining (IBM, Novell, HP, etc.) and took the time to clean up their room are the ones that have very little to yell about - in fact, they are enjoying the benefits of a clean room and free time while the Microsoft/SCO/Sun BRATS of the world are still crying and complaining in the middle of their messy rooms, facing being grounded on top of everything else for raising such a fuss.
To Microsoft/Sun/SCO and your kind - quit your whining and CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM or you're grounded! :-)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:24 UTC (Thu)
by ccchips (subscriber, #3222)
[Link]
It's almost as if your kids, after being told to clean up their room, had their friends in the neighborhood gang come over and throw paint all over your back yard.....
...not the best analogy, but you get the idea....
Posted Nov 18, 2004 19:16 UTC (Thu)
by tjc (guest, #137)
[Link]
A fun analogy, but "cleaning their room" wouldn't work for MSFT, since they don't really have any significant assets other than their OS monopoly. Even if they DID make the best OS, the best Office Suite, etc., there's no reason to believe that they could retain 90 pecent plus market share if the deck wasn't stacked in their favor. So I would expect them to keep up the FUD until the bitter end. It's the only thing they've got to fight with.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:38 UTC (Thu)
by clugstj (subscriber, #4020)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 14:38 UTC (Thu)
by lacostej (guest, #2760)
[Link] (3 responses)
See http://www.osriskmanagement.com/press_release_080204.pdf
I wonder if MS figure just comes from that study.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 18:23 UTC (Thu)
by Ross (guest, #4065)
[Link] (2 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 19:33 UTC (Thu)
by lacostej (guest, #2760)
[Link] (1 responses)
"Well known patent attorney Dan Ravicher...senior counsel to the Free Software Foundation..."
The press release doesn't (except if I misread) says that the OSRM has commissioned the study. I have heard Richard Stallman using this argument in several of his speeches. So I concluded, perhaps too easily, that the FSF found the 283 potential patent issues themselves.
I would be really happy to know who really commissioned the study...
Posted Nov 18, 2004 22:27 UTC (Thu)
by Ross (guest, #4065)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:25 UTC (Thu)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link]
Where do I send my check?
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:29 UTC (Thu)
by petegn (guest, #847)
[Link] (13 responses)
go get a blow job offa cheeta cus you aint not got a hope in hell you will soon be treading the same path as sco the slippery slimey downey the paney path
just though I wouldlet you know sooner rather than later give you chance to go crawling after another job when this one goes T**S up on you cus people are wise to your bull S***E now you see so it has little or no effect and you think the Asians will listen boyo you gotta lot to learn i suggest you go back to high school or maybe even kindegarten .
Cheers Pete .
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:33 UTC (Thu)
by nix (subscriber, #2304)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:53 UTC (Thu)
by minichaz (guest, #630)
[Link] (11 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 17:13 UTC (Thu)
by corbet (editor, #1)
[Link] (10 responses)
I've been trying to figure out the right thing to do here for a while. I hate to silence the non-subscribers; many of them have good things to say. On the other hand, every now and then we get this sort of stuff. Frankly, I think we get very little of it, but it does happen.
What I might do is add an option so that only subscriber-posted comments are visible. Non-subscribers could post, but subscribers who do not want to see them could filter them (and perhaps all subtrees below them) out.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 17:54 UTC (Thu)
by thompsot (guest, #12368)
[Link]
Good idea
Posted Nov 18, 2004 18:31 UTC (Thu)
by paulj (subscriber, #341)
[Link]
A moderation system might be better, but obviously a lot more work.
A less involved solution that would keep views of discussions coherent would be to delay access to posting by non members for X hours (eg 12 or 24), how effective that would be is hard to judge - for contraversial topics it would at least mean that the initial comments would be the (hopefully) more considered opinions of subscribers.
regards,
--paulj
Posted Nov 18, 2004 19:35 UTC (Thu)
by NightMonkey (subscriber, #23051)
[Link] (1 responses)
It may still allow for some crud to get through (maybe because the subscriber didn't have enough coffee - or too much ;) ), but might limit it.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 11:56 UTC (Fri)
by zotz (guest, #26117)
[Link]
zotz
Posted Nov 18, 2004 20:43 UTC (Thu)
by sbergman27 (guest, #10767)
[Link]
It has the added advantage that you can remind them to renew their subscription periodically, and maybe next time they'll choose a higher level. :-)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 22:00 UTC (Thu)
by foo (guest, #1117)
[Link] (1 responses)
You wouldn't be silencing them. "Non-subscribers" were voicing their
The value of the site has been lowered, IMHO, by to the low
I encourage our benevolent dictator to nix the J. Random Commenters.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 8:17 UTC (Fri)
by Wol (subscriber, #4433)
[Link]
The letters feature is treated as editorial, and as such is effectively TWO weeks out-of-date for non-subscribers.
Okay, as a non-subscriber I have to accept that anything decent is only available to me a week out of date, but as the letters are discussing stuff that was a week old *then*, it's a pretty useless feature for non-subscribers.
Cheers,
Posted Nov 19, 2004 1:03 UTC (Fri)
by man_ls (guest, #15091)
[Link] (2 responses)
Also, that would give me another incentive to overcome laziness and subscribe.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 10:45 UTC (Fri)
by nix (subscriber, #2304)
[Link] (1 responses)
(Compared to the amount of time Jon likely spent writing the code for the subscription stuff, I'd say subscribing takes effectively zero time.)
Posted Nov 19, 2004 12:03 UTC (Fri)
by zotz (guest, #26117)
[Link]
Paypal is out for my country - hey paypal, what's the problem?
Don't like using my credit cards online (or offline) all that much.
Getting a cheque drawn un a US bank is an expensive proposition both in terms of time and money.
Where does that leave us?
I have an egold account but need to find something to induce people to put something in it for me. Not sure how to fund it from here. (Legally.) Admittedly not a high priority right now.
zotz
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:41 UTC (Thu)
by hazelsct (guest, #3659)
[Link]
They must be either very confident in their European back-channels, or they've given up on Europe, or they are watching their server and browser market share slide down a muddy slope and starting to panic. Either way, this is the poster child for "why software idea patents are bad", and I'm glad they're brandishing it about as it helps us quite a bit in Europe.
Now if we could only be so enlightened over here in the U.S. Ah well, when the titanic clashes come, small software firms are slaughtered by the thousands, the Mutually-Assured Destruction scenario plays out out*, and it becomes clear that only the lawyers are gaining from the present system, maybe someone over here will wake up.
[*Microsoft shuts down all of Redhat and Novell's desktop business, Novell shuts down Microsoft's server business, Microsoft shuts down IBM's server business, IBM shuts down every Windows desktop in the U.S...]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 15:50 UTC (Thu)
by TxtEdMacs (guest, #5983)
[Link] (10 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:20 UTC (Thu)
by sphealey (guest, #1028)
[Link] (9 responses)
A multi-prong legal attack involving patent lawsuits (probably through third parties), mandating of patented/protected DRM technology for certain types of transactions (banking, interaction with government agencies), and laws outright banning the GPL.
They have been laying the groundwork for this for about 2 years now; I would expect some serious movement in the next 12 months while "political capital" is being spent.
sPh
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:26 UTC (Thu)
by emkey (guest, #144)
[Link] (7 responses)
I suspect a lot of this stupidity is coming from people other then Gates who were raised in the rather retarded Microsoft culture. Of course that culture is his creation.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:43 UTC (Thu)
by sphealey (guest, #1028)
[Link] (6 responses)
Unfortunately I don't have time to write an essay, so please don't take offense at how my tone comes across.
Why will they fail? How will it wound them? The recording and movie industries are being VERY successful at crushing any alternative distribution channels and having those who disagree with them crushed in court (not excepting 12 year old children).
Pretty much any restrictive legislation can be passed in the US now by referencing "terrorism". DRM will be pushed through on a HomeSec bill. Outlawing of GPL will be attached to a DoD appropriation. No legislator will dare to vote against the bills just to excise those small section - not after what happened to Kerry.
Sorry, but that is where I see it heading.
sPh
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:58 UTC (Thu)
by ewan (guest, #5533)
[Link] (2 responses)
That is how it would wound them. If the cost of dealing with the US
Posted Nov 18, 2004 18:06 UTC (Thu)
by ccchips (subscriber, #3222)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 19, 2004 10:49 UTC (Fri)
by nix (subscriber, #2304)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 21:02 UTC (Thu)
by emkey (guest, #144)
[Link]
As for the recording industry, you have a point. Part of the issue there though is not enough producers are willing to buck the trend.
These things are cyclical. The deeper/steeper a particular swing, the more severe the backlash. In many ways we're still suffering from the backlash of the 1960's for instance.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 7:17 UTC (Fri)
by ekj (guest, #1524)
[Link]
??AA has been pretty successful in getting attention for their shotgun-tactic in the media, perhaps enough so that sharing of movies and music is fractionally lower than it would otherwise have been, afterall it's plausible that some have gotten scared.
But they have also:
If this is success, then yeah, I guess.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 12:11 UTC (Fri)
by zotz (guest, #26117)
[Link]
Perhaps, but they have also been VERY successful in getting me to cut way back on my business dealings with them and to become more active in creating Free (GPL software Creative Commons writings, etc.) works as an alternative.
It would not surprise me to find they have had the same effect on others.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=47354
I have committed to others to release the nanowrimo first draft of this book under a creative commons licence if I reach the goal.
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22drew...
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topi...
zotz
Posted Nov 18, 2004 23:02 UTC (Thu)
by TxtEdMacs (guest, #5983)
[Link]
You very well may be correct, indeed in the U.S. this battle might well be lost. However, I see MS actions as revealing act of desperation it can no longer work so far behind the scenes. They are being forced to act.
However, even if they <i>win</i>, they lose. Here and abroad there will be trade offs. There will be some significant corporate opposition and new engendered distrust of MS's ambitions. Abroad they may compromise current inroads and good will.
Consider India, which has a new research center promised with a fairly significant hiring in the offing by MS. If they are observed to be vicious to get their Windows only milieu in the U.S. their Indian partners are open to the nationalist card that they played to get into office. The middle class is large and significant in India, but much less so than imagined by our publications and TV. China would be a dead, complete loss - they remember too many slights by militarily superior, but to them culturally inferior states to follow any dictation by the U.S. Even the E.U. states might be miffed and more likely to pursue an independent path.
The sad truth is the U.S.A. is just not as important and the policies of the present regime has contributed to loss of status. So while MS can spend its political capital here, perhaps even unnoticed by the electorate it will be noted here and abroad in many places. Some may later play a role in paying back in kind.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 16:12 UTC (Thu)
by libra (guest, #2515)
[Link] (2 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 18:08 UTC (Thu)
by ccchips (subscriber, #3222)
[Link] (1 responses)
Remember, we're talking about American marketing, where ketchup companies put their bottle in the refrigerator, and their competitions's bottle in the oven, and then hire Carlie Simon to sing about it.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 22:16 UTC (Thu)
by cpm (guest, #3554)
[Link]
I'm not exactly sure if this is germane, but it might be.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 17:55 UTC (Thu)
by thompsot (guest, #12368)
[Link]
Steve is spewing out the typical FUD they're known for. I wouldn't sweat any of this.
Posted Nov 18, 2004 17:56 UTC (Thu)
by tavis (guest, #14187)
[Link]
Posted Nov 18, 2004 21:43 UTC (Thu)
by nylesh (guest, #26108)
[Link] (2 responses)
Posted Nov 18, 2004 22:05 UTC (Thu)
by NightMonkey (subscriber, #23051)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 19, 2004 10:54 UTC (Fri)
by nix (subscriber, #2304)
[Link]
I don't think this case is like petegn's merit-free obscenity-laden post above.
Posted Nov 19, 2004 22:31 UTC (Fri)
by NightMonkey (subscriber, #23051)
[Link]
Sad that CNN is reporiting this breathlessly-delivered Microsoft press release as news. Not even a hint of balance. :(
They will walk the SCO way.Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
And get pretty much the same result. The number of truelly new ideas in software is pretty dang close to zero. There are almost certainly examples of prior art for just about anything they would care to name given how old the GNU effort is and the BSD code as well.Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Microsoft compared to SCO
Microsoft compared to SCO
Employees: 57,000
Net income: 2,528,000
IBM's gross revenue last quarter: 23,429,000
Employees: 319,273
Net income: 1,800,000
Thanks much for the clarification!
Microsoft compared to SCO
Microsoft compared to SCO
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=MSFT
Like China gives a flying fig about US Companies and the "rights" they make up in the middle of the game.China says "Up yours, Ballmer"
China says "Up yours, Ballmer"
Like China gives a flying fig about US Companies and the "rights" they make up in the middle of the game.
He's probably referring to the OSRM study that found 283 patented itemsMicrosoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
in the Linux kernel.
offer to Linux's "vulnerability" on this issue, rather than threatening to
go after Linux for patents MS holds. Perhaps they don't want to
"go nuclear" when other large patent holders have so much invested in Linux.
LWN reader comments, relative to the pre-comment-feature
letters page: :(
No, it sounds just like the words coming out of his mouth... "play nice and buy our stuff instead of using Linux, or we'll get our thug buddies in the WTO to shut you out of world trade and/or tariff you into oblivion".Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
That would be very good. The start of the United Nations' decline and fall.Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
As I recall, at they same time OSRM announced those 283 possible patents, they also announced their own indemnification/insurance scheme for Linux users.
It's a non-issue.
Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Ya know, this whole thing with SCO and Microsoft and Sun et al reminds me of something... it's like the situation where I tell my kids to go upstairs and clean up their room, and they yell and wail and balk and stall and complain "nooooooo, it's too HARD to clean up my room, I don't WANT to clean up my room, it's not FAIR, waaaaaaaaaahhhhh" etc.One more observation
What's worse is that some of us are those kid's staff, or the staff who work for their customers. We have to DO THINGS in their messy rooms.One more observation
To Microsoft/Sun/SCO and your kind - quit your whining and CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM or you're grounded! :-)One more observation
Threatening your customers. Where have I seen that tactic used before?Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
FSF has found 283 by themselves of which a third are owned by Linux 'friends' (IBM, ...)Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
OSRM is a kind of open source insurance company. The FSF is the organizationOSRM != FSF
supporting the GNU project and many other Free Software projects.
I know that. But if you read the press release:OSRM != FSF
Ah, I see. The link didn't work for me so I guess I was responding withoutOSRM != FSF
the proper context. Sorry about that. I heard mumblings to the effect that
some of the individuals opposed to the EU approving software patents were
making great use of this study, but I don't know if that was FFII, the FSF,
or some other group. And I don't know if that means they paid for the study.
It's possible they just self-funded the study to get more publicity for their
insurance plans.
Now that Ballmer has finally done it, and publicly thrown down theMicrosoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
gauntlet, isn't he now (finally) in an actionable position?
Hey balmer boyo i gotta message for you in a language you understand Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Please be civil. This is not slashdot.Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
I ask once again: please, please would you limit comments to subscribers only. I don't want to be paying to read this if these pointless comments are going to mar the whole experience and interfere with sensible discussion of the topic at hand.Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Limiting comment posting rights
"I ask once again: please, please would you limit comments to subscribers only."
Limiting comment posting rights
Hmm, but if you do that then discussions will seem disjointed. I want to see good discussions still though.Limiting comment posting rights
Bear with me - I haven't had my coffee yet. How about allowing a single subscriber's nomination determine if a non-subscriber's submission is viewable? This way, it would not become like a Slashdot-like moderation system, but allow us to know that at least one paying subscriber authorized this posting to be viewed, and deemed it worthy.Limiting comment posting rights
I am not a subscriber, but of all the ideas I have seen floated on this topic, this one seems the best to implement. If any are to be implemented that is.Limiting comment posting rights
How about adding another subscription level at $0 which allows posting but no other added features. I really, really, hope LWN stays away from anything even remotely resembling the Slashdot moderation system.Limiting comment posting rights
> I hate to silence the non-subscribers; many of them have good things to say.Limiting comment posting rights
(often excellent) opinions via the letters page long before the comment
feature was around.
quality of the comments. I had always been impressed by the intelligence
and technical erudition in the letters page, and was surprised when
the comments turned out to not reflect that high standard.
One major problem with that :-(Limiting comment posting rights
Wol
Limiting comment posting rights
I hate to silence the non-subscribers; many of them have good things to say.
Well, I'm not yet a subscriber, but I would rather not read this sort of thing even if I lose the right to post. Even if we lose some interesting comments.
Limiting comment posting rights
Also, that would give me another incentive to overcome laziness and subscribe.
I mean, gosh, I slaved over subscribing for whole minutes.
E-commerce is not so easy from some countries. Look at payment options.Limiting comment posting rights
I figured, Microsoft being no dummies, they'd wait until *after* their antidemocratic tactics finished ramming software idea patents through the European Union before starting to talk enforcement.And I thought they'd wait...
I think to many of the comments are missing the real significance of the MS threat. Implicitly they are now admitting that they cannot beat Linux based upon either technical merit or TCO arguments. What are they left with?Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
> What are they left with?What is Microsoft left with?
If they go this route they'll fail and it will wound them big time. Gates is stubborn as heck but I don't think he's this stupid. Microsoft fought the Internet tooth and nail in the early 90's. When it became obvious they couldn't win they did a complete 180. Look for them to do the same here as well.What is Microsoft left with?
> If they go this route they'll fail and it will What is Microsoft left with?
> wound them big time.
> Pretty much any restrictive legislation can be passed in the US now
What is Microsoft left with?
becomes too high to bear we'll all just stop doing it.
Hmmm...see my earlier comment about the decline and fall of the United Nations (which, frankly, in my opinion, was largely created while the US was the only A-bomb holder.)What is Microsoft left with?
I hear that this little island off the coast of Europe (whose name I forget) and this big country (then run by a nasty person) where they use a weird alphabet were involved as well.What is Microsoft left with?
They'll fail when the pain level become too high for the world at large. Europe has already turned down software patents, at least for now.What is Microsoft left with?
I guess that depends on what criteria you use for success.What is Microsoft left with?
"The recording and movie industries are being VERY successful at crushing any alternative distribution channels and having those who disagree with them crushed in court (not excepting 12 year old children)."What is Microsoft left with?
/* A multi-prong legal attack involving patent lawsuits (probably through third parties), mandating of patented/protected DRM technology for certain types of transactions (banking, interaction with government agencies), and laws outright banning the GPL.*/What is Microsoft left with?
<yawn>Tell me more about that when something that could influence my way of building an IT architecture has occured. I care about having the best tools for the job at affordable and scalable prices. OSS often fits quite well to the task, and is easier to put in use than proprietary and incompatible stuff.Does it matter ?
Even if patents could be a concern, tell me more when something has actually happened. So far I feel more concerned by the actual licenses + costs + doubts + lock in + uncertain future of proprietary stuff than by supposedly possible problems that a bunch of patents could cause.</yawn>
You aren't the one he's trying to reach.Does it matter ?
Actually, I think Ms Simon already sang the song, the ketchup marketingDoes it matter ?
folks in question just licensed it.
Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
Ballmer's remarks seem like a great soundbite for the anti-WTO movement....Ammo for anti-WTO folks?
I've workesd with SPARWs which is the naval installation on the west coast. There are meny "windows" that have "holes" in them. Linux is the OS of chioce. For protection of our USA. All hackers love windows there are ports opened in e-mail, etc. They may have fixed them be now, I haven't use the "holes" in a long time. Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
All this compamy does is sue, my wife is name sue.Windows should be called the boy name sue.
Here's another case for a non-subscriber submission limiting system of some sort...Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
I don't know; the OP was obviously trying to say *something*, and it's quite amusing trying to decrypt it. (This sort of thing is potentially caused by language barriers, too, like mmarq's posts, which would be quite reasonable if they were less disjointed and had a capitalectomy and adrenalin removal.)Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/11/19/tech.microsoft...Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)