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04 June 2007

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Luis Villa

Obviously it is hard to know until we see the details of the agreement, but I think this does indicate that GPL has had an impact. Note that instead of a blanket patent license + redistribution, patent licensing will now be 'made available' to Xandros customers. Of course, patent licensing was always available to anyone who wanted to approach MS, if MS wanted to grant it- no need to involve specific vendors. In the end, again, this is Microsoft cherry-picking- they are trying to strengthen the weakest vendors at the expense of Red Hat and Canonical.

elvis

The same deal on IP from Microsoft, i.e. Microsoft is generously promising not to sue Xandros customers.

Where I come from, this is called a protection racket.

Why is it considered a noble offer when Microsoft do it?

stephe

Luis: It would be interesting to know who approached whom on this deal, i.e. whether it is indeed Microsoft cherry picking or whether Xandros is trying to be "strategic".

Elvis: I was being sarcastic. Nothing noble about it.

elvis

I understand the sarcasm in the story. I was referring to the public at large, and why it is that nobody is publicly rejecting these "deals" Microsoft are offering other companies. It seems yet again Microsoft are free to threaten as they please, and the general public merely turns a blind eye, or worse, celebrates it as a revolutionary business decision.

I think the long-term ramifications of these deals are lost on most, which is frightening. Are people really that ignorant to the actions of this modern-day Mafia?

Manny

It looks like Microsoft is playing a game with smoke and mirrors here. These new patent deals, which as you say are more posturing than anything substantial, are stirring up more confusion about their ridiculous patent claims. Perhaps Microsoft is doing this in the hope that it will scare off some people from switching to Linux and open source software in general. In other words, more FUD.

On the other hand, I also see a classic military move here: divide and conquer.

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