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Will Patent Battles End Free Linux? (Updated Jan. 2, 2008)

John Brandon

Microsoft has made a pack; for one thing suing Linux would mean the end of Microsoft End User support in many countries; not the US of course; we support our lying, stealing crooked president; whereas other countries would have hung him in a tree and set him on fire; this country will not stand up for its rights; that’s why Xerox is suing; they know the American’s are so dumb down they will never do anything against them; even something like Boycott; which is legal.

Linux can only be free if the US is free; this will never happen in my lifetime I fear, I was born into this country as a slave and will die as one; the difference is I know the truth; Linux has the same faith; most of US think we are free; to them I say; yes you are free to elect one of their chosen leaders, free to pay your taxes, free to fight and die in their wars, free to go anywhere and do anything you want, free to say anything you want about what’s on your mind; free to spend the rest of your life in a prison called the US, to the US crowd I say the Matrix has you and you don’t even know what it is… Fear of being sued by Xerox or SCO; there is no freedom; not in this world.

The White Wizzard

jeff@myremoteaccess.com

Will Patent Battles End Free Linux?

by John Brandon

As the open-source movement gains momentum, patent companies are suing.

Is the open-source community stealing ideas from commercial vendors? IP Innovations seems to think so; the patent-holding company recently filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against Linux distributors Red Hat and Novell, claiming that Linux uses ideas originally developed at the Xerox PARC laboratory.

Open-source proponents say this a frivolous lawsuit from a company whose unsavory business model is to sue companies over intellectual property (IP) and patent issues. Some previous high-profile cases include SCO Group versus IBM in 2003, and NTP versus Research in Motion in 2006 (a case that threatened to shut down the popular BlackBerry e-mail service and devices).

Some big tech companies are also claiming open-source apps and OSs have pilfered their technologies. For example, Microsoft president Steve Ballmer has hinted in interviews at possible patent litigation against GNU/Linux distributors, but so far has offered no specifics. In 2006, Microsoft reached an agreement with Novell that provides indemnification and shields Novell's SUSE Linux division against patent lawsuits—at least for now.

"The Linux intellectual property issue has been recognized," says Mark Martin, a Microsoft spokesperson. "There is IP overlap between our portfolio and open-source software components."

The twist with any new Linux lawsuit is that past cases have "mobilized a huge and passionate community," says attorney Andrew Updegrove, an open-source litigation expert. Today, any new open-source project is scrutinized by hundreds of erstwhile developers looking for potential patent infringement. "If a company is going to proceed with its claims of IP infringement, it better have a smoking gun," says Chris Swenson, the director for software industry analysis at NPD Group.

"No one knows for sure whether there is an infringement, except the vendors that Microsoft has approached and revealed specific evidence," says George Weiss, a Gartner analyst. And Bruce Parens, an open-source advocate, says that Microsoft and IP Innovations are just trying throwing their weight around. "We would like the law changed to make it certain that they can't do that."

www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2239113,00.asp

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----- Original Message -----

From: EW

To: <bellringer@fourwinds10.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 5:44 PM

Subject: Re: Will Patent Battles End Free Linux?

Patrick,

There is a good [and free] alternative to Linux and Microsoft that people should download, just in case... It is based upon the Linux system, and is called Ubantu. It fits on a 700 Meg CD, and will operate a computer should all the others fail.

It can be downloaded here, as a backup:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

For an alternative browser from the memory hogging Firefox, and the insecure MS os systems, use K-Meleon, based upon the same system as Mozilla and Netscape.

http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

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