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Ballmer Won't Dismiss Idea of Suits Against Linux

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the errr dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to an interview with Steve Ballmer in Forbes, Microsoft is open to the possibility of filing patent suits against Linux in the interest of their shareholders. Ballmer said: 'Well, I think there are experts who claim Linux violates our intellectual property. I'm not going to comment. But to the degree that that's the case, of course we owe it to our shareholders to have a strategy.' Microsoft filed more than 3000 new applications for software patents in 2005 and already owns more than 4000 patents, including many patents on fundamental, but trivial technologies, like double clicks."

9 of 644 comments (clear)

  1. Re:More FUD from MS by Bellum+Aeternus · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    What's wrong with Vista? MS has decided to delay it to guarantee a better product? So let me get this straight: if they get it out faster, then "their marketing machine is push crap code out too fast" and if they take longer then "they're taking too long and becoming irrelivant". Which is it, 'cause you cannot have both with an OS that supports that much legacy software/hardware. I cannot even begin to imagine the nightmare of supporting hardware like PS/2 mice along side USB2.0 devices... not to mention the archaic software packages they need to backward support.

    MS's backwards support for DOS and Win9x has always amazed me. Not that they do it, but that they've been able to.

    --
    - I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
  2. Re:More FUD from MS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Please learn the difference between "there" and "their" (and "they're", while you're at it).

  3. Re:The F word by Dretep · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    The word ought to be barred.
    I second that motion. It's as overused as 'hate crime'. I'm surprised Ballmer hasn't been accused of a 'hate crime' yet based on his love of Linux...
  4. Re:The F word by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Very impressive. It is not for us mortals question the actions of the moderator gods.

  5. Moderator Abuse by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    Man, I just got hit with 5 "Trolls" in a row!

    Blatant moderator abuse.

    1. Re:Moderator Abuse by smbarbour · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      It's only abuse if it's not deserved. Your posts that received that moderation expressed your disdain of the term, even when used in the proper context (as was the case here). "FUD" is a term used to describe statements that can only be interpreted as an attempt to sway support away from something by insinuating that the speaker is legally in the right as opposed to the target of the statement.

      Have you interpreted the statements differently? Please explain to the groupthink that is Slashdot why the statements should not be deemed "FUD".

    2. Re:Moderator Abuse by rumblin'rabbit · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      It's attitudes like yours which seriously degrade the value of /.

      "Troll" is not another term for "I disagree".

    3. Re:Moderator Abuse by smbarbour · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      You are absolutely right.

      CmdrTaco, CowboyNeal, Zonk, et al., Please change the Troll moderations he has received on his posts to "Offtopic". He has clearly tried to derail the serious discussion (and succeeded in doing so) of the article by expressing his disdain of the term "FUD".

      I tried to change your thought process to a serious discussion as to why you think it should not be labeled "FUD" (Other than the reason that you simply do not like the term).

  6. Moderator Abuse does Exist. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    As a matter of policy, whenever I meta-moderate, I always do the following. I always tag any negative moderation as being "unfair".

    Why? I believe in positive moderation. If you do not like something, then as a moderator, you should do nothing. If you like something, then give moderation points to the article.

    In short, if you abuse your moderation, you will be on the receiving end of my "unfair" designation. In the end, you lose.