thelinuxlink.net

http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/ ... p;2;fpid;1

Microsoft is getting very scared now...

First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you win

We are now at stage 3 according to Ghandi. From the article...

"Novell pays us some money for the right to tell customers that anybody who uses SUSE Linux is appropriately covered," Ballmer said. This "is important to us, because [otherwise] we believe every Linux customer basically has an undisclosed balance-sheet liability."

Jones also challenged Ballmer to "put his money where his mouth is" and detail exactly what part of the Linux kernel source code allegedly infringes upon Microsoft patents, so that "folks will strip out the code and work around it or prove his patent invalid."

Ballmer did not provide details during his comments Thursday. But he was adamant that Linux users, apart from those using SUSE, are taking advantage of Microsoft innovation, and that someone -- either Linux vendors or users -- would eventually have to pay up.

"Only customers that use SUSE have paid properly for intellectual property from Microsoft," he said. "We are willing to do a deal with Red Hat and other Linux distributors." The deal with SUSE Linux "is not exclusive," Ballmer added.

I usually don't resort to name-calling..... but Ballmer's a dick.

greggh wrote:Microsoft is getting very scared now...

First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you win

We are now at stage 3 according to Ghandi.

So it would seem, I guess it's time to pull out the big guns!

Judland wrote:I usually don't resort to name-calling..... but Ballmer's a dick.

You said it dude!

Just to quote Nintendo's former president, when Ballmer was trying to buy Nintendo and kept naggin' Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi: "Lick my balls mr. Ballmer!".

Seriously though, to Steve Ballmer from Troels Just: You just come sue my ass, I think the EC will have another nice fine for you!

who does ballmer think he is -

isn't there some company that can take these comments and sue his wonderful company.

I am not a lawyer but it seems to me he is violating some anti-trade laws or something saying this about a product and not providing specific examples.

what innovation does linux have that we got from microsoft. none that I can think of.

sounds like to me they are getting very sco like and very desperate.

hey stevie boy come sue me - I use nothing but linux and it isn't suse - so go stick in your "IP portfolio".

I bet this deal was nothing like they say. I bet microsoft went to novell and threatened lawsuits and so they struck a deal. and now there are non disclosure agreements and novell can't talk about it except in the way they have been.

seems like to me that redhat, ubuntu, linspire, xandros, slack, and all the other distros just got slandered by ballmer.

must be that fat patent that they let run all over the industry and let everyone use freely and then decided to patent it. I don't use fat file systems on anything or any of there file systems so it is alright with me if they take it out.

I'd like to see a list of "intellectual property" that has been siphoned from UNIX, Apple, and others and rebranded as Microsoft "innovation".

Ballmer's comments really, really, really tempt me to jettison my XP partition...but I have family; you know how that goes.

I keep hearing in my head the tune at baseball barks:

FUD, FUD, FUD, FUD,
FUD, FUD, FUD, FUD

I've been thinking about this whole "Linux users owes Microsoft", and I've realized that I actually owe Microsoft something. I owe them a big thanks for making an operating system so crappy that I started looking for something else.

Tsuroerusu wrote:I've been thinking about this whole "Linux users owes Microsoft", and I've realized that I actually owe Microsoft something. I owe them a big thanks for making an operating system so crappy that I started looking for something else.

Well said!!!

Whether we like it or not, we all owe Bill Gates for bringing down the price of hardware to the point where anyone can own a computer. But Ballmer is a Douchebag. If he weren't Bill Gates' college roommate, he'd be an assistant manager at a Denny's franchise right about now.

TankCatNinjaFish wrote:If he weren't Bill Gates' college roommate, he'd be an assistant manager at a Denny's franchise right about now.

That's an insult to managers at Denny's!
I agree Ballmer is an effing tool!

Patrick wrote:I agree Ballmer is an effing tool!

Who sweats like a pig, and loves to sing: DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!

By the way Pat, when is episode three of Windows Crash Radio coming up? And even more important, when is episode one of Mac Elitist Radio gonna be on?

Tsuroerusu wrote:when is episode one of Mac Elitist Radio gonna be on?

http://www.twit.tv/mbw

Here's an updated item:

Microsoft makes claim on Linux code

And sets alarm bells ringing in open source community

By OUT-LAW.COM → More by this author
Published Monday 20th November 2006 14:31 GMT

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that every user of the open source Linux system could owe his company money for using its intellectual property. The statement will confirm the worst fears of the open source community.

Microsoft recently signed a deal for SUSE Linux, a Novell-owned distribution of the Linux operating system. The two companies pledged that they would improve the interoperability of their products. Open source advocates were amazed at the deal, but Ballmer's comments could vindicate the suspicions of some.

http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2006/11/2 ... inux_code/

And some people in the F/OSS world still think this whole Novell/Microsoft deal was a good thing?

I'm pretty sure Ballmer is on his way out. They brought in the creator of Lotus Notes as Chief Software Architect rather than give it to him. I think this may be his last attempt to be somebody in the Tech world. Everyone else at M$ is running scared and they know better than to pick a fight. Ballmer may have gotten a couple lawyers behind him in the company and a few lackeys to make the meeting with Novell happen. Maybe he will embarace Microsoft enough that they will ask him to leave.

The question isn't whether this is good for the community or not. The question is whether we can trust corporations to be the face of this code anymore with people that want to use it.

Lately, Novell has been doing more than enough marketing to reveal that they are strapped for cash. I think this was desperation on the part of those at Novell that don't understand Open Source.

What I would like to see come of this is Nat Friedman, Jeremy Allison, and Miguel De Castro sitting down and discussing what they can do to protect their code from corporate fallouts like this. It seems like it is more trouble than it's worth to partner with these old school companies that claim they have seen the error of their old ways of doing business, only to see them cave and screw everyone when they fall down.