On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 4:28 PM, Aaron Konstam <akonstam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Only the parts that have been around since windows 95 i'll wager.
On the other hand M$ anounced today it would rellease 3,000 pages of itsOn Fri, 2008-02-22 at 13:44 -0500, max bianco wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 2:37 PM, Gene Heskett
> <gene.heskett@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Wednesday 20 February 2008, Phil Meyer wrote:
> >Gene Heskett wrote:
> >> Greetings folks;
> >>
> >> As a staunch believer in Open Source in the form of linux,
> I've always
> >> wondered just where M$ would attack linux, and it appears
> they have found
> >> an ally and a willing vehicle in Novel, who I am told now
> owns gnome.
> >>
> >> I'll let the data in this link speak for itself.
> >>
> >>
> <http://boycottnovell.com/2008/02/15/mono-contamination-in-ubuntu/>
> >
> >...
> >
> >Might I recommend http://groklaw.net where these issues have
> been
> >researched as closely as humanly possible.
>
>
> I follow Pamela.
>
> >MS is a real threat to the FOSS community, make no mistake.
> However,
> >most of their FUD campaigns fail under scrutiny.
> >
> >The single biggest threat to FOSS are software patents. It
> is
> >unknowable who will pull the trigger first. It might well be
> MS, but it
> >could be IBM or any number of patent trolls.
> >
> >If you want to really stretch the ability of your tinfoil
> hat, just
> >consider:
> >
> >1. IBM has the largest patent portfolio in the world.
> >2. MS has submited as many as 3,000 patent applications a
> year for the
> >last several years.
> >3. IBM has sold off all corporate assets that had contractual
> >obligations to MS.
> >
> >Can you even imagine what would happen if IBM and MS were to
> declare
> >open war over software patents?
>
>
> Both of which have deeeeep pockets, and could sue each other
> for decades which
> would in the end only enrichen the lawyers. No profit in
> that.
>
> I've Been Moved is currently on our side, apparently having
> seen the
> handwriting on the wall several years ago. But M$ most
> certainly isn't, and
> I can't think of any better a way than to sign don't sue
> agreements with one
> of the more prolific contributors to FOSS in general, and sit
> back and wait
> till their contributions contain enough patented stuff to
> throw a real 36"
> monkey wrench in the gears by suing the rest of the linux
> folks out of
> existence because those deeeeep pockets aren't there.
> ,
>
> We will know M$ is desperate when they start canvasing neighborhoods
> to see who's running linux. As for Novell, well they either screwed
> themselves or did everyone a big favor( i think they just wanted the
> infusion of capital). Microsoft has yet to reveal these supposed
> patent violations, i think any court in the land would say that it is
> reasonable to list the patents so that the situation can be rectified
> but so far they have refused. I believe they are full of shit and they
> won't list the violations either because: 1)there aren't any,
> 2)someone they can't get to sign one of these ludicrous agreements(ie
> REDHAT) has a bigger gun ( in some form or another), 3)they could
> potentially have to open their code to prove it( which may show how
> many patents they are violating, while also showing the world a
> crapload of new vulnerabilities
> to exploit), 4) any patent violations would be easily rectified or
> shown to be obvious.
> M$ doesn't even have the balls to attack linux directly anymore, they
> hide behind proxies I'd say they are losing their nerve over in
> Redmond. In the end only one thing is sure, its gonna interesting.
Vista and Office code to the public.
>
Only the parts that have been around since windows 95 i'll wager.
