thelinuxlink.net

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?stor ... 8205138925
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/22007 ... ims-patent

Troels pointed this out to me earlier. It kind of stinks and all; but hey; they must be threatened big time by FOSS.

"People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to compensate us," Ballmer said

This is a meaningless statement. Yes, Red Hat users do have an obligation to compensate Microsoft for use of their intellectual property. Since there is no proof that Red Hat infringes Microsoft intellectual property, the compensation owed is zero.

Ballmer praised Novell at the UK event for valuing intellectual property, and suggested that open source vendors will be forced to strike similar deals with other patent holders.

Here's the real problem. Even though there's no proof that Linux infringes ANYTHING Microsoft, Novell's deal still lends credence to Microsoft FUD.

Bad Ballmer. If the truth won't do, speak your lies with conviction and people will pay up out of fear.