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Patent Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Red Hat and Novell - Just Like Ballmer Predicted (Groklaw)

Groklaw covers the patent infringement suit filed against Red Hat and Novell by IP Innovation. "You might recall the patent was used in litigation against Apple in April 2007, and Beta News reported at the time that it's a 1991 Xerox PARC patent. But ars technica provided the detail that it references earlier patents going back to 1984." The real focus of the article seems to be an attempt to find a Microsoft link, though; there is not much information on the patent itself.

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In which I get a lesson in patents -- how do you figure out the dates? (Groklaw)

Groklaw has published a conversation with a patent lawyer with more information than most of us want to know about expiration dates, when prior art becomes a valid defense, etc. "All three involved patents should expire December 10, 2008. This means that it's a bit of a puzzle why such a suit has been brought. Normal patentees would be on the whole unlikely to bring expensive patent infringement lawsuits on the basis of patents which are just about to expire. That's mainly because the litigation can be expected to last until well after the expiry date. After patent expiry, the patentee can no longer get any injunction to stop further infringing trade, because that has by then become free to the public."

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Trade Shows and Conferences

Kernel guru woos Linux devs at MontaVista summit (LinuxDevices)

LinuxDevices.com reports from Andrew Morton's talk at the Montavista "Vision" conference. "The legacy of 'patch hoarding' -- maintaining embedded patches outside of the mainline kernel -- should end. People should send their patches to the LKML (Linux kernel mailing list), where etiquette has reportedly improved. Morton also iterated and re-iterated the invitation to send patches privately to him for a candid appraisal."

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The SCO Problem

The Creditors List as text (Groklaw)

Groklaw dissects the SCO creditors list. "When SCO filed for bankruptcy on September 14, there was an attachment to both the SCO Operations, Inc. and the SCO Group's petitions, a Certification Concerning Creditor Matrix, with the list of SCO's creditors. The document included some home addresses, and I felt uncomfortable posting them, so I promised we would do a redacted text version. Here it is, at last. I apologize for the delay. Some of the items on this sad list are obvious; some are mysterious. For example, why would O'Reilly & Associates be on the list? Win4Lin? Maureen O'Gara's G2? The detective that went with her on her stalking mission years ago? RIM? Does the maker of Hipcheck and other mobile solutions use Blackberries? And what's with all the restaurants?"

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Companies

Dell: Microsoft warnings haven't hurt Linux uptake (ZDNet)

Michael Dell says that software patent claims are not hurting his business. "Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando on Thursday, Dell's chief executive officer said his company has seen Linux uptake for servers increase faster than Windows server products, despite Microsoft's claims."

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Novell lays off AppArmor programmers (News.com)

News.com reports that Novell has laid off its AppArmor developers. "Novell will continue updating AppArmor and using and it in its Suse Linux Enterprise Server software, but the development mechanism has changed since Novell released AppArmor as open-source software in 2006. Some companies outsource programming work to India, but with active open-source software projects, there's even lower-cost options."

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Linux Adoption

How Far Behind Is Linux? (Wall Street Journal)

The Wall Street Journal joins the crowd saying that desktop Linux isn't happening. "Even though Linux is easier than ever to use, the dream of many Linux buffs of it replacing Windows as the desktop mainstay is, at best, stalled, and at worst, fading. While exact numbers are hard to come by, one survey has desktop Linux users barely scraping a single percentage point of the market share. Among Microsoft's customers, concedes Mr. Torvalds, are his father and sister, though Mom has managed to resist the allure of the dark side."

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Interviews

Shuttleworth on Ballmer (Linux-Watch)

Canonical's CEO Mark Shuttleworth responds to recent comments by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about intellectual property and patent issues with Linux. "What perhaps upsets Shuttleworth the most is that, at the end of the day, Microsoft doesn't seem to realize that open source and proprietary software developers have much in common when it comes to IP laws. "Microsoft and open source both have the same interest to create a level IP platform. The patent system is not good for anyone. It's not good for Microsoft. It's not good for the little inventor next door. It's not good for FOSS [free and open-source software]. Companies that make money by doing nothing but holding on to patents until someone creates a useful program are the real problem. It's these patent trolls that are dangers to both.""

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Linux Foundation's chief says open source still holds promise for Oregon (Silicon Forest)

Silicon Forest, a blog site hosted by the Oregonian, has an interview with Jim Zemlin, head of the Linux Foundation. "When I talked to Jim on Friday, I suggested that open source hasn't created the economic activity in Oregon that some backers anticipated after Torvalds moved here in 2004. Jim disagreed. Here's how he sees it: I do believe that open source presents an economic opportunity for Oregon. In fact, Oregon has a pretty strong track record of providing economic opportunity for individuals around the support and development of open technology."

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Reviews

New Nokia Linux tablet packs slideout keyboard (LinuxDevices.com)

LinuxDevices profiles the Nokia N810, due to hit the market in November. "The N810 is smaller, heavier, and faster than the older N800, with new features that include a slide-out hardware QWERTY thumb keyboard, GPS receiver, FM transmitter (for in-car listening), and a light-sensing screen dimmer."

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PHASEX: A New Linux Softsynth (Linux Journal)

Dave Phillips takes a look at the PHASEX software music synthesizer on Linux Journal. "Development of native Linux audio plugins and softsynths may not be so relentlessly rapid as it is in the Windows and Mac sound software worlds, but new things do appear. This week I profile a cool new (well, relatively new) Linux softsynth, William Weston's Phase Harmonic Advanced Synthesis EXperiment, also known as Phasex."

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Miscellaneous

Firefox Is Going Mobile (PC Magazine)

PC Magazine reports on plans to make a mobile version of the Firefox browser. "The developer team behind Firefox has announced plans to bring a mobile version of the technology to the market in 2008. "People ask us all the time about what Mozilla's going to do about the mobile web, and I'm very excited to announce that we plan to rock it," Mike Schroepfer, a Mozilla developer known as "schrep," wrote on the Mozillazine blog. Specifically, Mozilla will add mobile devices to the first class/tier-1 platform set for Mozilla2, the next-generation browser technology due in 2008".

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