Microsoft takes on the free world

[gewhite3]

Source Article here.

The article is long so I will let you read it for yourself if you want on CNN.com. However, the first couple of paragraphs are below:

Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe. Fortune's Roger Parloff reports.
By Roger Parloff, Fortune senior editor
May 14 2007: 9:35 AM EDT


(Fortune Magazine) -- Free software is great, and corporate America loves it. It's often high-quality stuff that can be downloaded free off the Internet and then copied at will. It's versatile - it can be customized to perform almost any large-scale computing task - and it's blessedly crash-resistant.

A broad community of developers, from individuals to large companies like IBM, is constantly working to improve it and introduce new features. No wonder the business world has embraced it so enthusiastically: More than half the companies in the Fortune 500 are thought to be using the free operating system Linux in their data centers.

"It's a tinderbox. Patent law's going to be the terrain on which a big piece of the war's going to be fought. Waterloo is here some where." --Eben Moglen, Executive director, Software Freedom Law Center

The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft's patents. And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends and fearsome competitors like Google (Charts, Fortune 500), Microsoft is pulling no punches: It wants royalties. If the company gets its way, free software won't be free anymore.

Will open source be a thing of the past? Not only are they targeting Linux, they are also targeting Open Office as well as others.

Interesting read........

 

[gewhite3]

Damn noelie......you really know how to make a guy [STRIKE]horny[/STRIKE] blush..... drop 'em

Oh yeah, I agree MICROSOFT BAD!!!!! LOL

 

[gewhite3]

Yeah, I don't think they have much of a chance at winning this battle. Especially seeing as how code is so "fluid"... how can you really have a rock-solid patent on code?

 

[gewhite3]

I don't really think Vista is going to flop because hardware manufacturers will have to adopt it. Large corporations will also need to adopt it over time if they want to remain on the cutting edge as more and more apps are written to run on the Vista platform. So, it may take some time but I think Vista will ultimately come out on top. The big question is, how much time could this take to happen?

 

[Kins123]

Even more reason to hate Microsoft...

I read somewhere that Microsoft can stop a company selling PC's if they don't bundle Windows on them. Is this true?

 

[Brijan]

Doesn't Microsoft have ENOUGH money already?

For the love of God...

Bill Gates: Buy him out, boys.
Homer: Hey, what the hell's going on?
Bill Gates: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of cheques.

 

[WYSIWYG]

I worked retail for 7+ years, and yes many of the hardware manufacturers were locked into installing Windoz on ALL of their computers. No Windoz, no computers to sell. As a salesman, I was more interested in helping my customer, and if it meant Linux or any other OS I wnted to do that for them, but could not!

 

[Corny]

blablabla give me more FUD. sco claimed that linux violates a zillion of their patents - and they couldn't prove anything although they claimed they had a whole suitcase full of proofs.
MS is claiming the same thing since *years* and never ever they did something. if they could just prove it easily, don't you think they would have done so already?

 

[FabFairy]

This has been in the wind for sometime now and Linux Europe have already paid Micro$ucks a large sum because it was claimed that because Linux might communicate with a Windows box it would be a violation. This is only an extension of that. If any one had a stronger claim it would be Linux anyway they were around alot longer and developed most of the applications that Gates stole. I sure a counter-claim would quickly follow any action by Micro$ucks.

I don't really think Vista is going to flop because hardware manufacturers will have to adopt it.

Hardware Manufacturers will produce what is needed it isn't a case of accepting Vista or anything else. It is supply and demand. Vista fails you will see a change very quickly to hardware that is required.

Even more reason to hate Microsoft...
I read somewhere that Microsoft can stop a company selling PC's if they don't bundle Windows on them. Is this true?

This isn't true except that there may be agreements with manufacturers such as Dell. But as we have seem Dell have now decided to let the user decide what operating system they will use.

 

[_AJ_]

its funny that people are complaining that ms have said this and yet whenever apple sues which it seems to do Very frequently nobody gives a crap and is usually on apples side

i am sure linux violates apples patents to what would you say if apple did the same thing ?

 

[mike_n_herrin]

I don't think anyone should go after linux...MS or Apple. Although if linux is "up and coming" especially Ubuntu, like t-rex thinks, then i think MS would have more to lose. As i think most folks who switch would be windows users. so i suppose i think that means MS would have more to lose and therefore more reason to go after linux.

i sure hope no one does. i love linux. i'm getting more and more acquainted with it all the time.

 

[dfwjacker]

All of this is pretty funny given Microsoft's history of borrowing ideas from others. what do they call it? Oh, yeah... "Embrace and extend", I guess when you word it like that it's OK Clearly, the executives at Microsoft decided that the SCO/Unix stupidity that Microsoft backed wasn't foolish enough and decided to get directly in on this party to nowhere.

Really, this is really nothing new. Just more anti-Linux FUD from Microsoft. That dipshit, Steve Ballmer has been making threats like this against Linux for a long time now. What Microsoft Corp. fears the most is that companies and individuals are starting to realize in greater numbers that Microsoft has been holding back the industry and their software is not necessary for business or personal use. They are now resorting to scare tactics and threats to keep companies, governments, organizations and individuals from ditching Microsoft software, rather than providing compelling products that people would actually want to stick with. Their strategy is to trap their install base with fear, threats and misinformation. Very pathetic, considering the obscene about of money they spend on research and development AND that they get almost all customers by default anyway.

Ultimately, this BS will backfire on Microsoft. Too many companies, governments and organizations all over the globe have invested time, money and resources on open source development, business models and infrastructure to allow Microsoft executives like Mr. Ballmer to come in and piss all over everything with bogus claims. This all just so Microsoft doesn't have to make an honest effort to get/keep customers. Well, it's too late... Their stop loss tactics are pointless and will only hurt them more at this point. It's all downhill from now. Cash in your MSFT stock and do yourself and everyone else a favor and switch to Linux, BSD or Mac OS.

 

[_AJ_]

because apple would never file such a lawsuit right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_litigation_of_Apple

 

[_AJ_]

Also this article is better
Open source infringes our patents: Microsoft

of course this one is nowhere near as inflammatory as the USA one which takes a side and attacks

so much for unbiased journalism in the land of the free

 

[Kins123]

Talking of Steve Ballmer:



(note at around 22 seconds he hurts himself)

 

[gewhite3]

This has been in the wind for sometime now and Linux Europe have already paid Micro$ucks a large sum because it was claimed that because Linux might communicate with a Windows box it would be a violation. This is only an extension of that. If any one had a stronger claim it would be Linux anyway they were around alot longer and developed most of the applications that Gates stole. I sure a counter-claim would quickly follow any action by Micro$ucks.




Hardware Manufacturers will produce what is needed it isn't a case of accepting Vista or anything else. It is supply and demand. Vista fails you will see a change very quickly to hardware that is required.



This isn't true except that there may be agreements with manufacturers such as Dell. But as we have seem Dell have now decided to let the user decide what operating system they will use.

Time will prove that Vista will ultimately be accepted and XP will go the way of the white whale. It's happened many times before when MS released operating systems. Just today I was at a major call center in Houston and they are already installing new PC's with Vista. It may be a slow start, but momentum will build. Regardless of how much you hate MS.

Also, you can only get certain models of Dell PC with XP, all others you have to get Vista. So there........

Noelie,

Didn't I see you posting in CE&P today? Wazzup???