Ballmer is after Linux

[justin1278]

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11...lmer/index.php

[askrieger]

Re: Ballmer is after Linux

Just more M$ FUD. The fact that Novell was willing to buy into it, (for a cash payment from M$) speaks more for the dire financial straits of Novell than for any legitimate claim that M$ has on Linux software. I hope that Suse survives this very ill-advised maneuver by their American owners.

Personally, I'm not looking over my shoulder for a process server from M$ because (a) they would immediately get nailed by the GNU attorneys for their violations of both the BSD and GPL licenses and (b) there are lots of ambitious antitrust lawyers both in Washington and in Europe who would love to boost their careers by nailing M$ for monopolistic tactics.

LATER: I finally looked at this morning's paper: Novell's stock has dropped 5.4% in the last week (in a generally rising market).

[justin1278]

Re: Ballmer is after Linux

I have no idea why Novell would do that, it is costing them a ton of money, and this is just to protect themselves from Microsoft and I don't think there is really a threat. What Micro$oft is doing now is crap.

[askrieger]

Re: Ballmer is after Linux

As I understand the deal (which could be completely wrong), Novell gets an immediate cash payment from M$, and then pays what could be a substantially larger amount in "royalties", if they use the M$ technology in the future. I would assume that Novell went into the deal to get some cash in order to boost their current bottom line with the thought that, if they didn't do so, they wouldn't survive long enough to pay M$ back. M$ went into the deal because the cash is just chump change for them and, even if Novell folds tomorrow, the M$ lawyers can use the fact that a Linux "industry leader" has "acknowledged" M$ patent rights.

[justin1278]

Re: Ballmer is after Linux

As I understand the deal (which could be completely wrong), Novell gets an immediate cash payment from M$, and then pays what could be a substantially larger amount in "royalties", if they use the M$ technology in the future. I would assume that Novell went into the deal to get some cash in order to boost their current bottom line with the thought that, if they didn't do so, they wouldn't survive long enough to pay M$ back. M$ went into the deal because the cash is just chump change for them and, even if Novell folds tomorrow, the M$ lawyers can use the fact that a Linux "industry leader" has "acknowledged" M$ patent rights.

Ah I see