Read betwwen the lines
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| vainrveenr Feb 23, 2007 11:28 AM EDT |
A careful reading of Scott M. Fulton, III's BetaNews article itself shows two points : 1) No direct mention of the commonly-used "FUD", although there is multiple mention of what is termed the "veiled threat" (essentially the same thing in this article). LXer readers obviously know that FUD = Fear Uncertainty and Doubt Quoting:In one such story, an excerpted partial sentence was interpreted as part of a statement that Microsoft may yet exercise its option to sue manufacturers of Linux operating systems other than Novell for infringement of patent.Oh really?? Further down by Bully Ballmer himself Quoting:I would not anticipate that we make a huge additional revenue stream from our Novell deal, but I do think it clearly establishes that Open Source is not free and Open Source will have to respect intellectual property rights of others just as any other competitor will.Wait, there's this too Quoting:On the other side of the table, there is a body of opinion that maintains that Microsoft is gearing up for a legal offensive against Linux providers, with the exception of those such as Novell who may become immunized to such action by entering into a licensing arrangement with it. They contend that Ballmer and other Microsoft executives may be making veiled threats against the concept of free licensing, while simultaneously touting the benefits of its Novell agreement, as a "carrot-and-stick" approach to compel competitors into succumbing to a retroactive licensing arrangement that effectively makes them pawns for Microsoft.And please enlighten us again just how exactly "the veiled threat"/FUD is _NOT_ Bully Ballmer's "real" intended meaning !!!?? 2) No mention of the Microsoft term "interoperability". Interoperability would be the byword of Microsoft's Charm Offensive from the F/OSS-embracing(?) Bill Hilf. Same Bill Hilf within the VNUNet.com piece entitled 'Microsoft beefs up open source interoperability push' -- posted by LXer dave on Apr 6, 2006. BTW, is the term and practice of Microsoft's interoperability -- as embraced by the charming Bill Hilf -- really just a byword for Microsoft attempting to EXTEND its reach on F/OSS through the Novell deal (among other such deals) ?? Anyone ever hear of the term "Embrace and Extend" ?? ;) .... and just WHEN will Charmy Billy ever get together with Bully Ballmer for a news release ??? Helllllooooo BetaNews writers....... |
| swbrown Feb 23, 2007 5:58 PM EDT |
You can see what's going to happen, Microsoft is going to try and sue Red Hat and force them into a self-destructive deal like Novell while Novell stands on the sidelines as due to their deal, their business isn't threatened. The fly in the ointment is the Free Software Foundation relicensing their core system under GPL3 only, which will force Novell back into the fight to defend against Microsoft. |
| maggrand Feb 23, 2007 6:12 PM EDT |
Microsoft needs better cashflow. Vista will not bring that. Look at the low stock. If Microsoft starts too sue companys then they are gambling really big whith the stock value. That is something they can't afford. So forget it Swbrown. Microsoft is a sinking ship slowly..... |
| dcparris Feb 23, 2007 6:32 PM EDT |
I wonder how they'll deal with Debian? |
| swbrown Feb 23, 2007 6:40 PM EDT |
> I wonder how they'll deal with Debian? They probably won't bother - they'll attack Red Hat first and then by implication the other distributions will be seen as 'unsafe'. Their goal isn't necessarily to kill GNU/Linux itself, but to kill it in the marketplace. If they launch this attack before Novell becomes dependent on the GPL3, we have a problem, as Novell won't retaliate as they'll be unharmed and actually making a profit off of it. Divide and Conquer. |
| maggrand Feb 23, 2007 6:51 PM EDT |
Everyone would become enemys too Microsoft if they would do a such thing. Including EC. It would start a new talk about splitting Microsoft in two parts. Especially if the democrats wins in the next election. So no forget it Swbrown... |
| Scott_Ruecker Feb 23, 2007 7:30 PM EDT |
Democrats winning an election? Not if Diebold has anything to say about it.. |
| swbrown Feb 23, 2007 7:36 PM EDT |
> Everyone would become enemys too Microsoft if they would do a such thing. Including EC. It would start a new talk about splitting Microsoft in two parts. Considering they basically got away with murder in their anti-trust trial, I don't expect the government here to do anything about an attack or mob-style protection racket on Linux. It's up to the defending parties, and Novell has positioned itself to not defend. |
| dinotrac Feb 24, 2007 3:05 AM EDT |
>relicensing their core system The key word is "their". |
| vainrveenr Feb 24, 2007 7:51 PM EDT |
> I wonder how they'll deal with Debian? An indication of how Microsoft might deal with Debian can be found within DarrenR114's LXer post of last week, 'Linux power lunch: Debian founder visits Microsoft' http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=272 Note that Murdoch's visit was arranged by the group of none other than the very Charmy Billy himself. BTW, Any follow-up reports on Murdoch's February 20th address to the Redmond folks?? |
| jezuch Feb 25, 2007 3:40 AM EDT |
Quoting:Any follow-up reports on Murdoch's February 20th address to the Redmond folks?? I guess he was assimilated by the Borg... |
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