Linux Tavern

I guess this is what happens when you become the biggest guy on the block. Microsoft, in an attempt to generate some additional revenue, is attempting to get what is essentially “Protection Money” from many of the larger Linux distribution companies. Insinuating that some of the open source software included in many Linux distributions may be in violation of their patents, Microsoft is approaching the Linux distribution companies with offers of deals stating that Microsoft will not sue them if they are ever found to be in violation of any of these patents. So far, Novell, Xandros and Linspire have agreed to pay Microsoft while Mandriva, Red Hat and Canonical are refusing to make any protection payments.

There are a couple of interesting things going on behind the scenes here. First, if Microsoft has found that any of the Linux open source software is in violation of their patents, why wouldn’t they just sue? I understand that this would save them expense of a costly lawsuit, but if the violations were real, wouldn’t all of these companies agree to pay? They could also avoid a costly court battle and I would think that Microsoft is offering them a deal that would end up costing a lot less than what would end up being awarded in court.

But probably the even more interesting issue here is that these deals Microsoft is offering state that neither party will sue the other in a case of patent violation. Is it possible that Microsoft is in violation of an open source software patent or license and they are really trying to protect themselves?

I’m not sure exactly what Microsoft is up to here or if there are even any patent or license violations, but I do know one thing: Microsoft is not stupid. There is only one reason they would be doing this — to protect themselves. I highly doubt that Microsoft is offering this deal to any of these companies out of the goodness of their heart.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Linux, Open Source, Novell, Mandriva, Red Hat, Canonical, Xandros, Linspire

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 24th, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Linux News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.