Legal Wrangling In The World of Linux
There's been a lot of legal saber rattling in and about the Linux world in recent weeks, including dire warnings from Microsoft's lawyers that open-source software violates patents held by the software giant and fears that the Free Software Foundation might punish Novell for its controversial patent deal with Microsoft. But so far the response from the solution provider community has been more of a collective shrug.
"I don't think it's terribly damaging to Linux," says Chris Maresca, a founding partner of the Olliance group, referring to Microsoft's rumblings. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Olliance provides open-source strategic consulting services to technology vendors and technology purchasers, and Maresca doesn't see any businesses shying away from Linux.
The dustup began last month when Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith and Horatio Gutierrez, the company's vice president of licensing and intellectual property, were quoted in Fortune magazine as saying they believe open-source products violate 235 Microsoft patents and that Linux itself violates 42 of them. While Microsoft has hinted before that it believes open-source products infringe on its patents, it was the first time executives at the Redmond, Wash., software giant had been so specific.
Some dismissed the news as efforts by Microsoft to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) within the open-source software world.
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