Profile

unixronin: Galen the technomage, from Babylon 5: Crusade (Default)
Unixronin

December 2012

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     

Most Popular Tags

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

June 22nd, 2007

unixronin: Closed double loop of rotating gears (Gearhead)
Friday, June 22nd, 2007 01:12 pm

"A promise by Microsoft not to sue for infringement of unspecified patents has no value at all and is not worth paying for...people who pay protection money for that promise are likely living in a false sense of security [...]"

So says Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical, producer of Ubuntu Linux.  It seems Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon agrees:

"Interoperability between the Windows and Linux world is important and must be dealt with, and anything that helps this interoperability is a good thing," wrote Bancilhon, adding that "the best way to deal with interoperability is open standards."

"As far as (intellectual property) is concerned, we are, to say the least, not great fans of software patents and of the current patent system, which we consider as counterproductive for the industry as a whole," Bancilhon continued.  "We also believe what we see and, up to now, there has been absolutely no hard evidence from any of the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) propagators that Linux and open-source applications are in breach of any patents.  So we think that, as in any democracy, people are innocent unless proven guilty, and we can continue working in good faith."

The more, the merrier.  Just like their SCO sockpuppet, Microsoft has yet to show any tangible evidence of any patent infringement.  In fact, Microsoft hasn't yet even published a list of which patents it asserts are being infringed — they're just waving their hands around and making vague threats.  "Nice intellectual property suite you have here.  It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it."

Shuttleworth and Bancilhon are right on the mark.  This isn't an intellectual-property licensing agreement; it's a protection racket.

Tags:
unixronin: Galen the technomage, from Babylon 5: Crusade (Default)
Friday, June 22nd, 2007 02:20 pm

Q:  What do you do when you and two of your buddies, in a drunken haze, beat another acquaintance to death over a period of 24 hours or so, wrap his naked body in a tarpaulin and hide it in his garage, then get turned in to the police ten days later by a third friend to whom you boasted of the murder (and to whom you emailed camera-phone photos, at work, during the process)?

A:  If you live in Crotherton, Indiana, you claim that he was gay¹, and that it's therefore OK because you were afraid Teh Gay would get on you.

[1]  He wasn't.