Slashdot Mirror


Xandros CEO Doesn�t Agree Linux is Patent Violator

whitehartstag writes with a link to a Network World article about statements from Xandros in the wake of their Microsoft deal. Xandros CEO Andreas Typaldos made a point of stating that they don't believe their product violates any of Microsoft's patents. Nor, he said, did the software giant share with them exactly which patents they believe Linux violates. Just the same, he's disappointed with the reaction they've received from the open source community. "Feedback from the Linux community has been on the order of 'you shouldn't really be talking to the devil.' Linux and open-source advocates believe it is a big issue and say the Xandros deal, and another signed by Novell with Microsoft last year, erodes open source licensing provisions especially around intellectual property issues. Indeed, the Free Software Foundation is rewriting its GNU General Public License (GPL) 3.0 to prohibit such patent deals in the future."

2 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. You must be new here. by andrewd18 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You must be new here. Anything that suggests Microsoft is doing something good is immediately shot down. Considering the symbol for Microsoft related stories is a picture of Bill Gates' face covered in Borg parts, I'm not surprised.

  2. Handy boilerplate, if this GPL continues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "The community owes you nothing. Not dignity. Not respect. Nothing."

    That cuts both ways. So please keep the above attitude in mind next time you all are complaining about binary blobs, and unreleased specs, and "whaaa! no one's dumping their proprietary (but working) solutions for our untested, barely documented, and a 1000 eyes couldn't cut it, open source software"

    "The community continually develops and improves a product for free - you take it, modify it, and profit from it. Without them your business doesn't exist."

    Sounds like a reason to NOT depend upon the GPL. Are you certain you're an advocate?