OSBC: The Microsoft/Novell panel

Posted May 31, 2007 8:52 UTC (Thu) by grouch (guest, #27289)
Parent article: OSBC: The Microsoft/Novell panel

Allison Randal took the position that the agreement is mostly irrelevant for open source. It's just another boring industry partnership, with the usual sort of joint ventures. Had it been between Novell and IBM, she says, nobody would have noticed.

Bull! Randal needs to get a clue: the problem is patent appeasement money for free software, by one who is allegedly a member of the FOSS community. It's not about who attempts to pay the "taxes" as Corbet calls them, it's about the divisive payment itself. Anyone who attempts to tax FOSS developers into submission or segregate them into "compensated" and "hobbyists" risks the wrath of the entire community. This code is not to be walled off for would-be landlords to claim as their fiefdoms. It is presented as building blocks for the world by the choice of developers. Corporations attempt to claim it for rental property at their peril.