Author of Linux Patent Study Contradicts Ballmer
An anonymous reader sends us this EWeek story, following-up on the recent Linux patent scare. The author of the patent study is contacted, and says, "Open source faces no more, if not less, legal risk than proprietary software. The market needs to understand that the study Microsoft is citing actually proves the opposite of what they claim it does."
You're right, of course. I am not sure what I was thinking about.
Generally speaking, though, unless you are making commercial use of an invention, they're not going to be able to collect damages in excess of the lawyer's fees. And if you are making significant commercial use of Linux you're in a much different situation that is presumed in most of the posts in this thread.
Thanks for being polite about it, unlike that little a-hole anonymous coward.