Patent Storm Brewing
Fortune magazine has an
extensive
(read: long) report on Microsoft's strategy of using patents to
squeeze
money out of the free software community. Microsoft apparently has over
200 patents that are violated by the Linux kernel (isn't this based on the old
Unix kernel?), OpenOffice (this one I can believe) and Linux GUIs (maybe Apple
or PARC have a better case here).
The fear is that Microsoft can win licensing fees from the free software makers,
making the software suddenly unfree!
I don't think the sky is falling here. Most open source has its legacy in software
that predates Windows, and companies like IBM have plenty of patents to spit
back at Redmond lawyers.
So I'm not terribly worried. They again, I run XP and Office -- not Linux and
OpenOffice! What do you think? Does Microsoft have a case? Let me know at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on May 14, 2007