So, how much do you trust what Microsoft is saying?

[TWPonKubuntu]

That does not bode well for Linux:

"... The one with the deepest pockets a/o most unscrupulous lawyers usually wins."

[TWPonKubuntu]

Beware, in this article, of the viewpoint which could be read as "Don't worry, be happy".

https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-d...-mean-for-you/

Remember EEE - Extend, Engulf and Extinguish. This is part of the Engulf phase.

Read carefully and you will find the warning about needing to actually have an agreement with M$ about software which you or your company might be running under Linux.

They might be saying "royalty free", but this may only apply and protect those who have a written agreement with M$...

Look for the sword held behind the back.

[jlittle]

EEE - Embrace, Extend, Extinguish. I'd have said we're still in Embrace. When MS buys Canonical, say, or Red Hat, and ports Powershell, say, to the distros they would then own, that would be Extend.

That phrase does not come from anti MS propaganda, but from an internal board paper at MS; it was an explicit, deliberate, policy. The paper was legally "discovered" in a lawsuit.

[TWPonKubuntu]

I like my interpretation better, it expresses how I view M$... But Tomato, Tomahtoe, Potato, Potahtoe. They are still rotten vegetables.

Trust not in the Redmond behemoth.

[TWPonKubuntu]

Another article, by author Christine Hall:

https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/...y-linux-system

Let me point out the distinction being made between patents and copyrights.

Also note the "protection" being offered for those who apply for a license on various software including software running on Linux. Might those who fail to license expect a visit from Guido with a kneecap hammer?

The opinion expressed in the article is that some companies may want to reserve the ability to sue based on their patents.

It would seem that those most vulnerable are larger companies, with financial assets, rather than the bottom end user. I remain skeptical of such false security for me, an end user.

[Beerislife]

Remember, when you do a deal with the devil, you will always be the junior partner!

[TWPonKubuntu]

Another analysis of this topic:

http://lxer.com/module/newswire/ext_link.php?rid=262666

"Microsoft is Supporting Patent Trolls, Still. New Leadership at USPTO Gives Room for Concern."

This is specific to the US software patent situation.

[GreyGeek]

Yup. The spots on a tiger are not just on the fur. They are on the skin as well. The M$ ecosystem is all about patent licensing, and they've proven that they'll use any and every trick (in some cases illegal) they can to extort fees for what they didn't invent, create or improve.

[SpecialEd]

Spots? Tiger?

[Bings]

Bill Gates is going back to work at Microsoft? ;-)

[TWPonKubuntu]

Got any confirmation on that? Perhaps Microsoft is going into the digital commode business?

[woodsmoke]

I will totally bore the old hands but for the new folks.

I use OO to make presentations for use at the college and save them as .ppt or .pptx.

Starting several years ago Microsith started complaining, at the college, that there is a problem with the presentation and it needs to be fixed.

A white "sheet" appears over some of the slides randomly.

If one looks at the .xml file it is larger than before and there is extra code in it.. Just a few lines.

If one takes the affected presentation to the apartment and opens it in Kubu all the slides are there and no "white sheet".

If one removes the xml code and takes it again to the school Microshaft again says that there is a problem and puts white sheets over different slides.

Now, that stopped for a couple of semesters but when Windblows 10 appeared it happened...to... presentations that were PREVIOUSLY running fine at the college.

AGAIN, for the unknowing Windblows user Microshaft offers that there are sites "on the net" which will REPAIR the presentation...for a FEE!

I ALSO have presentations made with a perfectly legal copy of MS Powerpoint from 2004 that...MS says is an illegal copy, it is on the old Sony Vaio lappy that Daniel Craig slammed the lid down after resigning on his sailboat in Casino Royale...

I used it before I got into Linux and MS accepted the ppts until about 5 years ago and now it screws with them also.

So...several years back I started exporting the presentations to a .pdf, which, AT LEAST FOR NOW, Microshaft can't mess with.

I do not trust MS for one single second to do right by ANY user, including their largest corporate customers...

Some of which are colleges, like mine... MS was continually messing with them until the moved the mail system to MS cloud. and now Microsith is playing nice...for now.

wooptahonMSsmoke