:)
Posted on 02/20/2007 2:06:16 PM PST by JohnSheppard
Steve Ballmer has reissued Microsoft's patent threat against Linux, warning open-source vendors that they must respect his company's intellectual property.
In a no-nonsense presentation to New York financial analysts last Thursday, Microsoft's chief executive said the company's partnership with Novell, which it signed in November 2006, "demonstrated clearly the value of intellectual property, even in the open-source world." Steve Ballmer Steve Ballmer
The cross-selling partnership means that Microsoft will recommend Suse Linux for customers who want an environment mix of Microsoft and open-source software. It also involves a "patent cooperation agreement," under which Microsoft and Novell agreed not to sue each other for patent infringement.
In a clear threat against open-source users, Ballmer repeated his earlier assertions that open source "is not free," referring to the possibility that Microsoft may sue Linux sellers. Microsoft has suggested that the Linux operating system infringes some of its intellectual property, but it has never named the patents in question.
"I would not anticipate that we make a huge additional revenue stream from our Novell deal, but I do think it clearly establishes that open source is not free, and open source will have to respect the intellectual-property rights of others, just as any other competitor will," Ballmer said.
"But I don't want to eliminate in your minds the notions of risk of pricing that comes from competition with open source. We are higher-priced, but we bring greater value," he added.
Alongside the renewed threat over intellectual property, Ballmer was also bullish over winning large corporate accounts against Linux vendors.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
I've seen a different report: OSRM Certifies Linux Kernel Free of Copyright Infringement
If their claims are legitimate, Microsoft should specify the patents they are alleging infringement of, and take it up with the developers and distributors.
If Microsoft follows SCO's course of action by suing Linux customers, they will earn the opprobrium of the industry.
Of course, copyrights and patents are distinct issues.
Surely you understand the difference between "copyright" and "patent"?
Ballmer and Micro$oft are running scared.
They know that, in the future, completely free, open source and very very user friendly operating systems will replace the crap that they are putting out.
They can only stuff so much toothpaste back in the tube. Its over. Case in point, Office 2007, who the hell needs it? Even 2003 was pointless. You can't keep repainting the same old house and calling it brand new. And, with Open Office, who in their right mind would pay $200 for Office?
Hey Ballmer, Windows was a good thing, in its time, but the clock is ticking.....
You seem to be forgetting all the other companies that make tons of money off the Windows standard, starting with the hardware companies.
From today:
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20070220:MTFH22215_2007-02-20_19-43-38_N20195686&type=comktNews&rpc=44
AMD chief says Vista impact underestimated
Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating system will give a bigger boost to technology spending than many people now expect, Hector Ruiz, chief executive of computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., said on Tuesday.
"We're very optimistic about Vista and we think people are underestimating the impact it will have," Ruiz told Reuters after a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.
I view Vista as I do a vampire.
A vampire can't enter your home and kill you, unless you invite him in.
I've been on microsoft since 1983, after seeing Vista, for the first time in my life, I have been looking at Mac's.
Microsoft is pissing off too many people.
As for Vista making money for folks? Sure, all them folks out buying 4 gig of memory to make the damned thing work worth a crap.
Good, so long as you know it's not "completely free, and open source". Want something good you're still going to have to pay for it.
Yeah, but I forgot that it's a bad idea to discuss intellectual property law after a 30-hour coding marathon.
I'll cut you a break then. Later.
I am willing to pay for something good.
Vista ain't it.
And $400 bucks for a clean install 64 bit version is not worth it.
Hell, I won't even pirate it.
How about when they tried to patent 1s and 0s?
It's unfortunate for George Boole that software patents didn't exist in his era, but at least he established the prior art for us to use freely today.
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