Things are rosier than that [LWN.net]

Things are rosier than that

Posted Jun 7, 2007 15:39 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (guest, #7544)
In reply to: Another day another Microsoft patent deal by mikov
Parent article: Another day another Microsoft patent deal

The facts are more positive.

Novell, Xandros, and LGE have made deals with MS. The free software movement has never depended on any of these companies. These companies will not be allowed to distribute GPLv3'd code while using the protection of these deals, but there is a clause in GPLv3 that allows them to distribute GPLv3'd code if they explicitly disclaim the application of those deals.

So they can distribute GPLv3'd software if they say "The patent protection included in our MS deal does not apply to this software". Of course, they won't write it like that. The will say "According to our research, this software does not infringe any of MS's patents, and therefore the deal we have with them could not apply to this software".

So when they realise the worthlessness of these deals, we will get some nice public statements about how legally clean GNU+Linux is.

The only way MS could counter that would be to actually say what patents are being infringed, at which point we can remove that feature, or take it to court as being invalid (and even in the most problematic country, the USA, a recent court ruling indicates that most patents have been wrongly granted - so we're legally in a strong position in court), and as a third option we have our own patents, such as those in the Open Invention Network which we might be able to use for a couter-suit.

Moving to FreeBSD or OpenBSD would be "security by obscurity". Those operating systems are no less technically advanced than GNU+Linux and they will infringe just as many of MS's (debateably valid) patents.

(Log in to post comments)

Things are rosier than that

Posted Jun 7, 2007 20:26 UTC (Thu) by emkey (guest, #144) [Link]

Somehow I suspect this is exactly what Microsoft hopes people think.

All I can say is that I hope people start taking this threat a lot more seriously. Because this strategy by Microsoft combined with a GPL v3 that would prevent something like Linspire from existing is pretty much Microsoft's fondest dream come true I suspect.

I often fail to care for Microsoft's approach to doing business but I don't for a second think they are stupid or anything close to it. They want to eliminate Linux as a threat. I'm starting to think they've finally come up with a way to do that. With some kindly help from the GPL v3 potentially.

Things are rosier than that

Posted Jun 7, 2007 20:57 UTC (Thu) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link]

I often fail to care for Microsoft's approach to doing business but I don't for a second think they are stupid or anything close to it.

Do you remember when Bill Gates tried to present, in court, a rigged demo as evidence of how Windows would not function without IE installed? And how quickly this was discovered? I would not be so generous towards them.

I think this is being taken seriously

Posted Jun 7, 2007 21:27 UTC (Thu) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

Before last November, there were no MS patent deals. After GPLv3, there will be no new patent deals and the existing ones will have to be declared non-applicable by Xandros, LGE etc. when they realise that they can't stay in the free software market without upgrading their software. So we'll be back where we were.

That MS is trying to ink these deals quickly, just before GPLv3 comes into usage, could indicate that they don't see much of a post-GPLv3 future for this particular FUD campaign.

I'm not being dismissive. MS have put a nine or ten figure sum into this FUD campaign, and they wouldn't have done that without the go ahead from their top-class teams of lawyers and market analysts.

The option of not preventing these deals would mean that in a year's time, every GNU+Linux distro will be paying MS for the privilage of distributing free software and MS will be setting the terms under which GNU+Linux users' protection exists. MS could, for example, require that each release of a distro agrees to include DRM, and they could say that people's patent protection is void if they modify the software.

If Microsoft is allowed to control free software through patent threats, then GNU+Linux is just another proprietary, user-screwing alternative OS, like Windows, like Mac.

Microsoft's coming FUD campaign is going to hurt. GPLv3, can't prevent that, but it can prevent the Microsoft-controlled future scenario, and so it will ensure free software's long term sustainability.

It can't spread that far.

Posted Jun 8, 2007 7:44 UTC (Fri) by dark (✭ supporter ✭, #8483) [Link]

Every distribution? I deeply doubt that Debian would ever sign up for
this :)

Also, users can keep moving to unencumbered distributions. It's not like
we're going to run out, or new ones are difficult to start. And I don't
think it will take many such deals to demonstrate the effect on a
distribution's popularity.

Microsoft can't affect "every distro" until it actually puts its patents
on the table.

It can't spread that far.

Posted Jun 8, 2007 8:48 UTC (Fri) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

"users can keep moving to unencumbered distributions"

This is true for a shrinking definition of "users" :-)

Today, users are students, hobbyists, small businesses, universities, public administration, large businesses, and data centres. If GNU+Linux is labelled as illegal, the definition of users will shrink in approximately the reverse order that I listed the current categories in.

So I'll be ok. I'll always have GNU+Linux on my machine(s), but universities and university computer users should have freedom, public administration must have freedom, and it's useful (for us) for businesses to have freedom (since they'll become contributors).

You're right that there will be pockets of resistence no matter what, but our goal is served better by being the norm.

It can't spread that far.

Posted Jun 8, 2007 20:09 UTC (Fri) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

Linux is not going to be rendered illegal.

This is something you just don't have to worry about. The worst, the absolute WORST you could every expect to happen is that Linux developers would have to halt development for a period to work around some patented paticular.

Even that is very unlikely.

Linux is a multi-billion dollar industry now. We are getting close to 10 billion dollar annual server sales alone. And it's only showing signs of growing in all segments of the computer industry.

Microsoft isn't going to gain any legal clout by letting Linux grow and going "na-na-na we have all these patents". The more games it plays like this the weaker it's position is.