Microsoft's Linux-related patents rejected

Cnet ^ | 5 October 2005 | Ina Fried

[softwarecreator]

You forgot ... Edward M. Kennedy and Hillary Rodham Clinton

That's not fair.  If you compare MS to Hillary and Teddy I have no choice but to agree with you that MS is evil and you know it!  That's playing dirty.  =)

[Knitebane]

And MS does not sell their OS in China, they only give it away for free?

Microsoft gave their source code to the government of the PRC. You know, the very same source code that they refuse to let Americans see.

They howled that revealing the inner workings of their OS would be a security liablity when the DOJ wanted to see inside of it. Then they gave to the Chicoms.

Or did you forget that?

[N3WBI3]

Trying to put a patent on technology is business.

So is trying to sell drugs to little kids.

Business does not mean something is not evil. I do agree with you that this fails the 'evil' test in the biblical sense but it is most defiantly wrong!

[Knitebane]

Awww man, now I gotta give back the "MS-Drone" badge they give you at the graduation ceremony.

Sell it on eBay.

You can get a great price if you package it with the official MCSE kneepads.

One day they'll be quite rare, like my "Visicalc Forever" tie tac.

[brownsfan]

"Well at least you had the courtesy to capitalize "turd". Thanks!"

I wouldn't want to be disrespectful.

[dennisw]

they have developed nothing particularly innovative except for their EULA,

95% of Office users don't need the most recent edition or even the third most recent edition. Microsoft main field of innovation is in EULA and clamping down on pirates. Microsoft boosted it's bottom line immensely by making WinXP very difficult (but not impossible) to install on more than one machine for a home user while it was easy on all Windows prior to that. For a home or small business user. A business/corporate user who pirated Win 98 would be in trouble too if detected.

I hear the latest editions of Office are very hard to install on more than one computer

[Knitebane]

It's the old drug dealer's trick.

Let 'em have it for free for a while. Once they're hooked you'll have a customer for life.

[softwarecreator]

Or did you forget that?

China would represent billions of $$$ in sales revenue if MS can get a dominant share of that market.  If I remember correctly they gave them specific pieces of the code to check for potential security concerns, not the whole bundle.

I do understand what point you are making, and you are correct in you assessment.  I just would not say that the motives are "evil".

[softwarecreator]

You can get a great price if you package it with the official MCSE kneepads.

LOL!!  Glad I'm not an MCSE!

[softwarecreator]

Let 'em have it for free for a while. Once they're hooked you'll have a customer for life.

Isn't that what some distributors of linux are doing?  RedHat immediately comes to mind.

[softwarecreator]

In the 50's GM built the Corvair.  It had a tendency to flip over if you went too fast around a curve killing the occupants.  GM knew about it but ignored the memos sent by the engineering dept.

That is evil.  MS doesn't compare.

[N3WBI3]

As an MCSE, and an MCDBA I can tell you I have no knee pads ;)

[N3WBI3]

I just said that I don't think this instance rises to the level of evil. It is a touch higher than scummy..

[Ocracoke Island]

[softwarecreator]

I just said that I don't think this instance rises to the level of evil. It is a touch higher than scummy..

Okay, scummy seems to fit.  But in the end it all comes down to capitalism.  Very few major companies are 100% "scum" free.  MS isn't the only one.

[N3WBI3]

I would say finding an ethical company is hard, scummy is a grade or two lower and while there is company for MS there its not most companies..

[rzeznikj at stout]

I don't know, but is this MS's utterly sick, twisted, and evil way of trying to pop Linux? Heck, hit them in the pocketbook--then their own licensing forbids distribution; or so their reasoning goes...

Kinda goes along with the whole pattern: Gates buying DOS and patenting it, Lattice C (Visual C++), Spyglass, Vermeer (FrontPage) and WebTV (among others)...

And, if something poses a threat to M$, threaten to damage the competition by contracts or by releasing competing products--i.e. Netscape and Citrix.

To add to the MS irony, it's been mentioned before on these threads that Windows contains code licensed by the Regents of the University of California--I believe it's in "ftp.exe" about 3/4 down...

Finally, I must ask: is it becoming clear? Right or wrong, MS clearly sees Linux as its biggest roadblock to maintaining its monopoly, and is going to take it out at just about all costs. And in my opinion, I believe Linux is going to see the same playbook that MS used in their attempts to kill Netscape, Spyglass, and Citrix with.

But Linux IMO has several aces in the hole over Windows, and thus I believe that Linux will weather, if not grow stronger in the end. Education is key--being able to show the Joe Sixpack users as well as the IT execs that Linux is the clear choice in servers and desktops.

[ExDemSince92]

Awww man, now I gotta give back the "MS-Drone" badge they give you at the graduation ceremony.

I kept mine. It's framed on the wall under my other now worthless credential - Compaq Certified Technician

[ExDemSince92]

Imagine if the Corsair were revived and the firmware ROMs were written by Microsoft...

The thing would be a four-wheeled genocide machine.

[ExDemSince92]

As an MCSE, and an MCDBA I can tell you I have no knee pads ;)

So....you're a midget or your rep is very very tall.

*ducks*