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Mandriva Says No to Microsoft Linux Deal
Kurtz'sKompund writes "French Linux vendor Mandriva said no to dealing with Microsoft on open source patents. They're the third Linux vendor in a week to do so, joining Red Hat and Ubuntu in the 'against' column. TechWorld reports that Mandriva's CEO echoed statements from other open source leaders, saying essentially 'we don't need to pay protection money to do our job.' From the article: 'Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata, said Microsoft's deals with Xandros and Linspire don't have the same impact as they would if they had been made with a major Linux vendor such as Red Hat. "I think Microsoft is going to second-tier players, and they're cutting deals with them because they are softer targets," Eunice said.'"
So all these groups need to do is go "we'll make no deal" and they get free press on a bunch of geek news sites, more support from the community AND they get street cred?
Wow, who would side with MS when you can get 3 priceless things which your entire business model relies on?
I like muppets.
What does Microsoft think it will get from these deals with distributions? I doubt most of them have patents that can be cross licensed. I gather most patents in OSS are retained by individuals, or by companies like IBM or Sun.
Microsoft's patent threat can only go so far.
a) Acting out a patent lawsuit against a European company would be an utter political disaster for Microsoft. As soon as MS starts filing patent lawsuits against European companies, the EU will invent a reason to sue Microsoft again and again.
b) Acting out a patent lawsuit against an American company that is well funded, such as IBM, would be a disaster for the software industry and invite federal involvement, which no one wants.
c) Microsoft, like many tech companies, has managed to alienate Republican support. Ballmer might be a Republican, but Gates has already said he's, sigh, for the other side. So, I wouldn't expect a great many Republicans leaping to the defense of MS in the event some sort of legal war goes against them. And surely, Democrats aren't exactly going to rush to defend an oligarchical billionaire's company. Microsoft doesn't really have the allies on the hill that it thinks it has, and Republicans remember MS didn't do them any favors after they got a sweetheart anti-trust deal to begin with.
Bottom line is this: Microsoft's patent threat is a threat only, one that would it be stupid to use, and Linux distros shouldn't be afraid of it.
This is my sig.
Way to go Mandriva. This affirms that MS is only able to pick off the weaker/greedier distro's.
Mandriva/Mandrake has held a place in my heart for a long time. It is up to date, and it has about the nicest install.
If you are going to give a linux PC to a newbie, they are one of the first I would recommend. They have configuration tools (drake) that are second to none.
It is a very nice distro, and now with the assurance that we are free from MS worries, I would highly recommend trying it to see if it is the right distro for your friends.
Thank God all you want, but don't forget the brave developers, coders, programmers and others who, collectively, stood up to The Bully.
They are our liberators, not a Supreme Being (may I be struck dead by lightning if it ain't so)!
Gentoo has no commercial offerings, and therefore wouldn't be a good target for MS.
This is the best thing that Linux distributions and other oss vendors could be doing - rejecting Microsoft's deals. They are based on F.U.D. and have no basis in fact. That's why Microsoft is so vague about it. F.U.D. is one of Microsoft's main marketing and business tactics.
"I think Microsoft is going to second-tier players, and they're cutting deals with them because they are softer targets,". I think it is very tactless to call Novell second tier. Yeah they may have caved but truthfully they do work on several projects that border on Microsoft ISP Mono, OpenExchange, etc. Do I think it is bad form to partner with MS yes, but if you look at the deal Novell really didn't come out on the bad side of the exchange. Suse is a pretty powerful distro and arguably 3 or 4th in the Corporate distro list.
http://distrowatch.com/stats.php?section=popularit y
by happy coincidence, lists 357 distros.
Redmond has bought off a couple already, and certainly a healthy chunk have a userbase in a low power of two. That leaves a couple hundered in the middle somewhere.
So the strategy can't be to try to bail out the ocean. Redmond's business acumen is way beyond that.
I'm thinking that this is all about hedging against further anti-trust litigation:
"But dad! We played nice with a whole bunch of those kids. That pile of human wreckage over in the corner is just a bunch of lazy whiners."
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
So, MS convinced some sucke...errr..vendors to cough up dough for licensing. If they don't pursue action against those that didn't bend over, how pissed off will those that shelled out $$$ be if others are getting it for free?
MS won't risk it. No, the FUD value is *far* more valuable to them. They can scare people away from F/OSS and scare others into making their own deals.
Only Microsoft knows that, but it is a suspicion I've had for some time. Issuing public threats is bad PR, and would only be done in an emergency. If Vista and Office 2007 sales were shooting through the roof, why hurt the company's reputation by starting to make vague threats left and right?
"Contracts are what you use against parties you have relationships with." - Darl McBride
Don't fret too much. Once you convert the timescale from "corporate upgrade period" to our standard clock system, it's really been less then a week.
because maximizing the physical ease and physical physical pleasure of physical life on earth IS NOT his purpose.
his purpose is much HIGHER than that and allowing natural disasters and human kind disasters (up to a point) furthers his ETERNAL purpose.
what is that purpose? ultimately, it is to teach people that the *only* way that leads to peace, happiness, joy and contentment for the person and the community is to care for others EQUAL (not more, not less, but EQUAL) to oneself.
one such method is to give dust life and allow them to live contrary to this TRUTH and reap the natural consequences of their selfishness (caring for oneself more than caring for others). Voila! look around you for the results of this "exercise."
oh, and religious organization can, and often are, as selfish as they come, too - and they are just as wrong. don't listen to the guy who is trying to get your wealth - listen to the guy/gal who is trying to get your excess wealth to the truly disadvantaged and who leads by example.
every sane slashdotter *knows* the world would be a better place if everyone cared for others *equal* to themself. even so, you fail to treat others in this manner. so do i. but we can make it a priority to improve.
But what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. The remaining distroes will think twice before signing any similar deals, if that happens.
== Jez ==
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