Posted on 04/05/2006 8:39:22 AM PDT by luthers_inkwell
At http://www.no-lobbyists-as-such.com/florian-mueller-blog/ballmer-linux/ we're reminded that Microsoft wants Linux dead. Ballmer is once again making noise about patents.
Unfortunately, Microsoft likely does have patents it could use against Linux. IBM can probably be replied upon to fight back on the side of Linux with its own patents - supposedly they've called Microsoft patent bluffs in the past just by pointing out that they also have stacks of patents and idle lawyers ready to look for violations by Windows code. However, Microsoft might now be willing to risk the battle.
Microsoft is not in a happy place right now. Vista is delayed, and both Apple and Linux are gnawing at its toes. The increasing interest in virtualization and particularly in package/OS bundling like VMware Player is a bumpy road for Microsoft because of OS licensing. Microsoft doesn't want its OS sales pirated, but it doesn't want to miss out on that market either. Linux apps can be shipped with a free OS; Microsoft apps cannot.
(Excerpt) Read more at aplawrence.com ...
Please put this, and me, in the techping.
Bottom line: while he was working himself to death on DOS 2.0 and battling Hodgkin's disease, the two Steves were more concerned about how to steal his shares back if he died than they were about keeping him alive.
My apologies for linking to PBS.
Um, the "Two Steves" is an Apple thing and Allen had nothing to do with that.
..a polite way of putting it...
N3WBI3, perhaps this may qualify as an OSS Ping? I haven't actually read the article yet, but it my have some tengential application here.
s/tengential/tangential/
OSS Ping in shadows absence
Software patents only make the lawyers rich and hurt the consumer and small developer.
This is where I have seen savings using OSS software and now other operating systems like the free Solaris. I can run my test and development environments for almost nothing compared to a windows environment because with applications like Asterisk on Linux you pay the 2K in licensing and support on production but in test and dev I am running on some of the server hardware which was greened out last year on a free version of each...
As I understand it (from TWITcasts), there is a kind of Mutual Assured Destruction standoff regarding patents, as Microsoft, Apple and Linux (IBM, etc.) all hold patents violated by the others.
Can Microsoft really be that desperate about their Vista troubles?
Is Vista facing a far greater delay than is currently acknowledged?
Will Ballmer blow another gasket and throw a f***ing chair at someone?
Stay tuned.
According some blogs I was reading last week by/for microsofties, desperation might be an apropriate response.
Is Vista facing a far greater delay than is currently acknowledged?
That's what they were saying. If it ships when they say, it won't be ready for prime time.
Even when it does ship, the hardware requirements are pretty steep. It's gonna be interesting.
No comment on Ballmer throwing a f***ing chair?
LOL
But during one of those last long nights of working to finish-up DOS 2.0, something happened. I have heard this story from two people, each of whom was a friend of Allens and in a position to know. Each told me the same story the same way. I am not staking my reputation on the accuracy of the story, but I am saying I have it from two good sources. Paul Allen certainly wont confirm or deny it, so Ill just throw it out for you to consider.Isn't that the Dan Rather school of journalism? I can't prove it but I'll print it anyway. Then later on in the article he says:
My reason for bringing up this topic at this time is because it will all shortly be back in the news as Microsoft goes to court later this year in what might well be its last-ever anti-trust trial. Remember those 19 states and the District of Columbia that settled over time for software vouchers and promises from Microsoft to no longer do evil? Well only Iowa remains, represented by a lawyer from Des Moines named Roxanne Conlin whom I have met. Roxanne is not in any way impressed with Microsoft vouchers, no matter how many there are. Looking for real money for the people of Iowa, Ms. Conlin is about to dredge-up all this old news and put a new spin on it.Roxanne Conlin (opensecrets.org), Democrat connected, trial laywer and PBS pushing stories about how bad and evil Bill Gates/Microsoft are?!?
I'm not a fan of Gates or his products but this just doesn't look right.
Oh yeah. The other guy's name is "Bill." I try not to think about him.
Personally, it never quite felt right to me the way Paul Allen disappeared from the MS picture.
This fits, and it fits with Bill Gate's diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.
I agree and I'm not saying it's completely out of the realm of possibility. I'm just leary of the unknown sources. I'd rather hear it from Allen himself.
Hopefully he'll comment on it one way or the other now that the story is out there.
Once again, the lawyers win.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.