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2007-05-14 Home Front Economy

Microsoft Declares War On Linux And Linux Users

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Posted by Anonymoose 2007-05-14 11:22|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 "Gutierrez refuses to identify specific patents or explain how they're being infringed, lest FOSS advocates start filing challenges to them."

Not a leg to stand on, in other words. Pure FUD.

Posted by mojo">mojo 2007-05-14 12:14|| 2007-05-14 12:14|| Front Page Top

#2 So will MSFT pay royalties for all the BSD code they use?

What about damages for when their crap causes data loss and crashes?

And, really, if they could get away with it, they'd be claiming they patented the "+=" operator.

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-05-14 12:16|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2007-05-14 12:16|| Front Page Top

#3 The attack by its proxy SCO failed, so now MS is taking up the battle itself. They don't have to win, they just have to exhaust their opponents. And MS has very, very deep pockets.

Posted by Jonathan">Jonathan 2007-05-14 12:21|| 2007-05-14 12:21|| Front Page Top

#4 MS Going to lose this one. THe geeks will find prior art and invalidate every one of MS's patents. NEver piss off geeks on techy stuff, they are vicious as a pack of rebid weasels.

Posted by Glatle Crens4336 2007-05-14 12:38|| 2007-05-14 12:38|| Front Page Top

#5 Ok
Now to convince AQ that Microsoft is the most feared of Islam's enemies and let Balmer enjoy his just deserts!

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 12:39|| 2007-05-14 12:39|| Front Page Top

#6 Ya know like that code Ballmer and Gates put into Vista and Office to decide if the users are Jihadist and turn them in to the SpecOps...

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 12:42|| 2007-05-14 12:42|| Front Page Top

#7 Oh, I'm only a Bugs Bunny type of Satan, Bill.

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 12:44|| 2007-05-14 12:44|| Front Page Top

#8 They've twice been found in violation of existing federal statutes and as a monopoly. This time around, quit screwing with the monopoly enforcement and go directly to RICO. Suspend trading on the stock market. Keeps the company operating but seize the assets of the executive decision makers and it will finally get their attention. They can sue to get their assets back. Two can play the court delay game.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-05-14 12:45|| 2007-05-14 12:45|| Front Page Top

#9 Anybody want some popcorn?

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 12:46|| 2007-05-14 12:46|| Front Page Top

#10 Remember, IBM is on the Linux side. IBM has deep pockets too. IBM does not like to lose suits, especially ones that can set a precedent.

Posted by Rambler">Rambler 2007-05-14 13:47|| 2007-05-14 13:47|| Front Page Top

#11 And IBM might even have other reasons to want to knock Billy down a peg or two.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-05-14 14:18|| 2007-05-14 14:18|| Front Page Top

#12 How the kiddies squawk when their shiny free toys are threatened...

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2007-05-14 14:24|| 2007-05-14 14:24|| Front Page Top

#13 Windows NT = WNT = VMS+1

I wonder if whoever owns DEC might consider having a go...

Posted by Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2007-05-14 14:31|| 2007-05-14 14:31|| Front Page Top

#14 Microsoft Declares ~~War~~ jihad On Linux And Linux Users

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-05-14 14:35|| 2007-05-14 14:35|| Front Page Top

#15 Heh. Software developed for free by a bunch of volunteers violates 200+ of Microsoft's patents. Is this anything less than an open admission of what Microsoft's patents are really worth?

Patents must be novel, non-obvious and useful. The recent SCT ruling put some teeth back into the obvious requirement. How will MS argue that their shit isn't obvious when a bunch of open source developers routinely come up with the same thing?

Posted by Iblis 2007-05-14 14:40|| 2007-05-14 14:40|| Front Page Top

#16 There are only 10 kinds of people; those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Posted by USN. Ret. 2007-05-14 15:05|| 2007-05-14 15:05|| Front Page Top

#17 Remember, IBM is on the Linux side.
I ain't forgettin for a second.

Posted by Shipman">Shipman 2007-05-14 15:19|| 2007-05-14 15:19|| Front Page Top

#18 Hey, look on the bright side - maybe the Patent Office will rule that ALL software structures are "mathematical algorithms" and so not patentable.

Yeah... I kid.

Posted by mojo">mojo 2007-05-14 15:19|| 2007-05-14 15:19|| Front Page Top

#19 Won't Dell be selling computers running Ubuntu?

Posted by doc 2007-05-14 15:33|| 2007-05-14 15:33|| Front Page Top

#20 USN. Ret. -

There are 11 types of people in this world.

Those that know binary.
Those that don't.
And those that don't give a crap. ;)

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-05-14 15:46|| 2007-05-14 15:46|| Front Page Top

#21 Sounds like GM suing Ford because Ford uses wheels. Ridiculous.

But if Ballmer and Gates have their way so that customers end up having to pay for Linux, Microsoft may not benefit as much as they hope. A lot of users might go running back to the old school flavors of UNIX like HPUX, Solaris, and AIX because they can't trust their mission critical applications to the unreliable bloatware that Microsoft produces. Some might even go to BSD.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-05-14 16:01|| 2007-05-14 16:01|| Front Page Top

#22 with all the financial databases, ss databases and school databases getting totally hacked and owned - I would be all for a law like the following:

1) Totally illegal to put privacy information on any computer with a Microsoft product on it.

2) Illegal to connect any computer with privacy information to the internet.

3) All computers with privacy information should use really obscure and strange operating systems like Plan 9. You know something even the developers don't understand let alone the hackers.

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 16:21|| 2007-05-14 16:21|| Front Page Top

#23 Seems to me that this is the only way they can force companies to use Vista.

Posted by RWV 2007-05-14 16:27|| 2007-05-14 16:27|| Front Page Top

#24 On a serious ( for me, anyway) note: between this and the stories posted today and recently about record companies going after downloaded music, it is only a matter of time before we can expect it to be a crime to pass paperbacks around. The logic is the same; the follow-on readers didn't recognize the artist for his / her intellectual property by buying the book, and thus deprived him of his due. I am really surprised the big publishing houses haven't gone after the commercial second hand book dealers already.

Posted by USN. Ret. 2007-05-14 16:28|| 2007-05-14 16:28|| Front Page Top

#25 Show us the patents if you are making this claim. MS will not because it doesn't want to risk invalidation. Pure FUD.

IBM holds many, many more patents. I wonder how many Microsoft infringes?

So what this boils down to is FUD in Forbes to scare stupid and tech illiterate CEOs into making "Free Software" a no no in their corps. It is a plan to lock those companies even more into the clutches of Redmond. Anyone who makes software and OS decisions off of this is lame.

Suing your customers yea that is gonna work, in before SCO.

More Microsoft FUD and IBM owns the patent on FUD.

Posted using desktop Linux. It works for me, it might or might not work for you. It's not about cost saving it's about having a better operating system.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-05-14 16:40|| www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]">[www.sockpuppetofdoom.com] 2007-05-14 16:40|| Front Page Top

#26 Microsoft should know the devil is in the details.

Posted by badanov 2007-05-14 16:42|| http://www.freefirezone.org]">[http://www.freefirezone.org] 2007-05-14 16:42|| Front Page Top

#27 Of course I am waiting for open source NANO-TECH assemblers with open source programming.

Will you grow me a new kitchen honey? - Sure, it will just take a few minutes to download. Which one do you want?

Posted by 3dc 2007-05-14 16:46|| 2007-05-14 16:46|| Front Page Top

#28 What can I say? Ballmer, that MS hoppin' monkey, can stuff it. Of couse it's FUD.

Seems that MS has a hard time competing by normal means. Their server market share is shrinking as time pases by. And once XEN virtualization has stable production parameters, a giant fork would loom over Seattle MS campus servers development division.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-05-14 23:45|| 2007-05-14 23:45|| Front Page Top

#29 I wonder if whoever owns DEC might consider having a go...

DEC was purchased by Compaq, which merged with Hewlett Packard.

Posted by Pappy 2007-05-14 23:48|| 2007-05-14 23:48|| Front Page Top

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