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Microsoft takes on the free world

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dk70:
Not making money? http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070430/33932_id.html?.v=1

Grorgy:
Its interesting to see articles in some of the tech blogs and magazines about the number of companies, mainly small to medium business but some bigger ones, who are switching to open office and other open source software.  Makes sense really, they want to spend the money on their core business, which usually is not computing or critiquing microsoft products, they just want something that works, works well, and doesnt overburden the budget.  As (and if) this catches on microsoft may do a lot more suing.

zridling:
Here's some recent takes on this week's patent "eww" factor:

Andy Updegrove
Through the Patent Looking Glass with Microsoft's Brad Smith
What does one make of the fact that Microsoft wants royalties, but doesn't want to sue anyone to get them? And if Microsoft really believes that it has so many patents that are being infringed by Linux, why has it waited so long to assert them? Then there are the practical considerations: the fact that it would be infeasible for Microsoft to actually sue myriad vendors and customers; the fact that many of the its patents (perhaps most) would not stand scrutiny.

Once More into the Breech
The Microsoft Open Source Patent Gambit
Microsoft needs to get back in the business of building exceptional solutions to customer problems

Bob Sutor
Again? How tiresome
Enough said.

Patent Commons
http://www.patentcommons.org/
The Patent Commons Project is dedicated to documenting the boundaries of The Commons -- a preserve where developers and users of software can innovate, collaborate, and access patent resources in an environment of enhanced safety, protected by pledges of support made by holders of software patents.

Sun's Jonathan Schwartz
Free Advice for the Litigious
No amount of fear can stop the rise of free media, or free software (they are the same, after all). The community is vastly more innovative and powerful than a single company. Open standards and open source software are literally changing the face of the planet — creating opportunity wherever the network can reach.... That's not a genie any litigator I know can put back in a bottle.

Edvard:
Ok, I'm going to drop 2 cents here...

I don't normally get into these kind of discussions because, even though I use Linux and have for a few years now, I have nothing against Microsoft and it makes no sense to me to constantly tear down the ones who (for better or worse) made the most headway into making computing available for the masses (even if it's fun sometimes).
Besides, I am usually perfectly happy minding my own business, tinkering with my Linux box at home, glad that MS is mostly out of my way.

But sometimes somebody annoys you, like a mosquito around your head in the night, to the point you gotta just SWAT the damn thing.

May I present my Mr. Mosquito, aka Bill Hilf, Microsoft's "Platform Strategy Director". He is head of Microsoft's Linux lab and he so clearly doesn't get it that it's annoying, maddening, and pitiful.
Someone whose job it is to understand these things should know better than to make statements like these publicly:

Microsoft director out to 'debunk mythology around open source'
http://www.bangkokpost.com/090507_Database/09May2007_data05.php


Wait a minute, hold the phone:
I was going to go into a full-blown rant on this, but I just got a message pointing me to his blog.
Apparently, he was clearly taken out of context on some things, and according to his own words:

http://port25.technet.com/archive/2007/05/15/clarifications.aspx

he even said he may have spoken too soon.

My opinion still stands that he should think before he speaks, but at least I am dispelled of the notion that he is a complete idiot.

justice:
Well that does put things in context. All's not as bad as it seemed.

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