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Just a waste of moneyJust a waste of moneyPosted Jun 7, 2007 13:59 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (guest, #7544)Parent article: Another day another Microsoft patent deal
They will not be allowed to distribute GPLv3'd software while relying on this deal, but they will still be able to distribute GPLv2's software, and when they do want to distribute GPLv3'd software if they disclaim the application of this deal - as allowed by option (2) in paragraph 5 of section 11.
So this deal does not spell the end of LGE distributing GPLv3'd software, just as Xandros's deal doesn't. It's just a mistake whereby both companies flush money down the toilet.
I guess MS are rushing through as many of these deals now thinking that they are upping the stakes, but it's a bluff.
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Just a waste of money Posted Jun 7, 2007 15:35 UTC (Thu) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] That's not clear, since we don't know the terms of the deal. The new GPLv3 terms are in response to the Novell/Microsoft deal, but the lawyers may have adjusted the language.Also, do you notice that in most of these deals, Microsoft pays, not the other guy?
Just a waste of money Posted Jun 7, 2007 17:52 UTC (Thu) by mepr (guest, #4819) [Link] I wonder if this is similar to how microsoft pushed exchange:
Microsoft is effectively paying they other company to accept a patent license from microsoft.
Mark
Just a waste of money Posted Jun 7, 2007 19:23 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link] That MS do the paying is probably a sign that they don't really have confidence in their patent claims (as argued recently by FSFE). But even with the cash injections, I think Novell and Xandros are paying too high a price for these deals. They're drawing a lot of bad will and losing customers, and it will be all for nothing when GPLv3 is released. (Novell may have gained some customers temporarily, but those customers aren't going to be overjoyed with the idea of no longer upgrading their software.)
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