Few details are available about the deal. Microsoft's SVP of Server and Business tools announced the deal at MS' TechEd2007 conference in Orlando, remarking that "[Xandros has] taken the position of helping customers to ensure that when they use open-source software, the IP the industry has created is a part of that."
Microsoft's quiet backroom deals over Linux IP are making some Linux users nervous, while still others have mused that Microsoft's entire strategy may be nothing more than a Fear and Loathing public relations campaign to scare deep-pocketed corporations away from choosing popular Linux flavours in their datacenters
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6-05-2007 @ 2:16PM
Todd said...
"...still others have mused that Microsoft's entire strategy may be nothing more than a Fear and Loathing public relations campaign to scare deep-pocketed corporations away from choosing popular Linux flavors in their data centers."
Yes that is part of it, but, it's really a matter of GPL 3.
Note the date of this "last call" for the version three draft and cross reference it with Microsoft's latest round of FUD:
http://gplv3.fsf.org/gpl-draft-2007-05-31.html
Prediction - Watch for Ballmer to be on every news channel announcing massive legislation against anyone using Linux ( school, home or professional ) the day after GPL3 is released.
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6-05-2007 @ 5:58PM
Peter Kirn said...
I don't know ... I wouldn't be surprised if part of the motivation for them is reducing their own patent liability. That's just how insane IP law can become -- Microsoft gets patent immunity out of this, too, remember. Look at the Apple precedent; Microsoft really wanted Apple to drop their IP complaints, and Apple (under Jobs, anyway) really did want to get past that so they could go back to supporting their most critical and lucrative Mac developer. And MS may also be misguided enough to think their IP really is somehow infringed. That's not to dispute the obvious FUD motivation, but I don't think it's the whole story.
This isn't news, in that MS already expressed the desire to repeat the deal.
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