Tim Almond

Microsoft Claims that Software Like Linux Violates its Patents

Revealing the precise figure for the first time, they state that FOSS infringes on no fewer than 235 Microsoft patents.

Microsoft:"This is not a case of some accidental, unknowing infringement," Gutierrez asserts. "There is an overwhelming number of patents being infringed."

Now, it seems to me that the next question might be something like "and what are the patent numbers that are being infringed upon, and where?". But Forbes don’t ask it.

This is very similar to what happened in the whole fiasco that is SCO vs IBM, and why I’m dismissive of the claims of some established journalists about how bloggers are all terrible amateurs.

In that case, none of the mainstream media did any of the heavy lifting. It was people like Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond who took photographs of the code that was shown, found it on the Wayback Machine and showed that it had been released many years earlier under the BSD license (which allows you to copy code as long as you give credit*). It was people on the Groklaw website who did the analysis of court documents and contracts, making it the definitive source of coverage of the story, not the computing or business press.

If you want my opinion on Microsoft’s claims, it’s very simple: nothing will come of it. If Microsoft could sue Red Hat for something that would deaden the progress of Linux, they’d do so right now, not produce vague numbers.

 * I’m sure that’s how the BSD license works, anyway, but don’t quote me.

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Tags: Software Development, Technology, Linux //