Virtual Linux Open source News - Microsoft the enemy to Red Hat and Linux community

Microsoft's deal with Novell has been followed by Ballmer seemingly extending the olive branch to Linux leader Red Hat. However, Red Hat, like others in the Linux community, see Microsoft's moves as containing a veiled threat and just a means to get revenue for nothing.

The problem is that Microsoft's deal with Novell, whom many in the rest of the Linux community regard at a traitor to the cause, contains clauses which will see Novell pay Microsoft royalties for any of Microsoft's intellectual property used in sales and an agreement for Microsoft not to pursue patent claims against Novell with regards to that intellectual property.

That of course implies that other Linux distributors, such as Red Hat, may be susceptible to Mcrosoft patent claims in future unless they pay protection money to Microsoft.

Ballmer, who has become increasingly publicy vocal lately, has added fuel to the fire by implying that Linux infringes Microsoft patents.

This of course is nonsense and even the most ardent Microsoft insiders who know anything about Linux, have not repeated Ballmer's claims.

It is a well known fact that Ballmer has always regarded Linux as the enemy and many see the Novell deal as a sort of Trojan Horse through which Microsoft can get inside the community and fragment it.

The implication that Linux contains code that infringes Microsoft's patents are of course ludicrous and without basis. If Microsoft really had a basis for that claim, it would have moved on it ages ago instead of trying to pry itself into the Linux space by buying access to Suse Linux clients.

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