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Turbolinux Is Latest To Sign Microsoft Pact
mytrip sends word that Turbolinux has followed Novell, Linspire, and Xandros in signing a patent and technology agreement with Microsoft. Microsoft pledged not to sue Turbolinux's users for patent infringement. Turbolinux, headquartered in Japan, sells Linux systems mostly in emerging markets such as China and India. The Betanews story speculates on some of the technology benefits Turbolinux might get out of the deal.
They're still around?
Double dammit.
Could it be? Could Turbolinux users be getting transparent title bars on their windows? That would be FANTASTIC!
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
The article refers to a cross-licensing agreement with intent to use some technology - it doesn't say anything about not suing customers, although presumably that could be part of the deal and not mentioned here.
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Yeah but did they get money out of the deal ? Back then, Novell got Microsoft to invest some money in the development of cross-compatibility software (in short : Novell payed some cash to MS for patents, and MS in return gave huge wads of cash to Novell for development)
Is this the case tody with TurboLinux ?
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
And here I was thinking that Turbolinux died years ago. Last time I remember hearing about them is back in '99 or '00.
Maybe they just died on the inside.
There's a Queen song that comes to mind...
"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how drunk you get." -- H. J. Simpson
the Linux companies are starting to do what the big whigs have been doing for years but because of everyones pride they are called sell outs?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
On Linux distro's that I'll never install or support.
yup, yet another insignificant distro took some bucks to be the latest FUD. Well done M$FT, I'm so scared that I'm formatting my drive right now to reinstall XP. /sarcasm
Wake me up if a real distro like Red Hat Debian or Slackware SELL OUT, at which point I will simply start using OpenBSD on my desktop in addition to my server. This is FUD FUD FUD FUD FUD!
So, other than Novell, many of the "tiny" Linuxes (those with the least user base), seem interested in trying to attach their wagons to the Microsoft train.
I, for one, am not all THAT surprised, but neither all that concerned, either. The message from the other LARGER Linux distros like Redhat, Canonical, and Mandriva, have all have a clear message: ***NO*** If one of those were to fall for it, I would be VERY concerned.
Show us the infringing patents, Microsoft.... we are still waiting...
Don't companies all of the time say hey I won't sue you if you don't sue me? If Microsoft has so much on Linux as far as software patents go then I would think they would sue instead signing non aggression agreements. I think Microsoft might have some things that Linux could say they hold a patent on. Maybe this is a good thing for Linux as they don't have to worry about going to court for 10 years with their clients and developers wondering what will happen if Microsoft gets the upper hand. Even if it was something developers could change easily it's nice to know you won't be going to court because something is similar enough to a patent Microsoft owns. I can see why they would go and do this, though I do think it's almost like signing a deal with the devil. I hope distros like Red Hat and such don't do it personally.
I don't know much about it so if I'm wrong could you please explain to me how this is bad?
[Capo di tutti capi, Steve Ballmer] - "That's a nice set of users ya got there. Shame if anything were to happen to 'em. I'm a reasonable Mafia don though, I just want to 'Wet my beak' as they say."
linux fags are starting to come to their senses.
It seems to me that, with the exception of Novell, the distros signing up for this thing are all small-time distros with relatively small user bases.
I can't grok what Novell could possibly have been thinking, but it would make sense for the less popular distros to align with microsoft as they instantly become newsworthy and generate more interest.
Has there *ever* been a slashdot story on TurboLinux prior to this? If there was it certainly wasn't recently.
Is MS's threats liable or slander? It seems that they always throw around that "we'll protect our Intellectual Property..." line a lot, but no one seems to have a clue what their talking about. As far as I know, making unsubstantiated claims like that for the purpose of scaring corporations away from Linux is illegal (called liable or slander I think). It's akin to "Brand X" claiming "Brand Y kills a puppy every time you use their product", when they don't. Can someone shed some light on this issue? Does Linux infringe upon MS IP, and if it doesn't, why hasn't Redhat or someone sued them to shut up?
I don't see anything in the article about Microsoft paying to "share" their "technology".
But I'm sure that is what happened.
Anyone have any other references? It appears that Microsoft is buying up the lesser Linux distributions.
When Pat sells out, the fat lady will be singing. Not before.
Until then, get busy living.
Stick Men
mytrip sends word that Joe Asshole has followed Novell, Linspire, and Xandros in signing a patent and technology agreement with Microsoft. Microsoft pledged not to sue Joe Asshole's users for patent infringement. Joe Asshole, sells Linux systems mostly in emerging markets. The Betanews story speculates on some of the technology benefits Joe Asshole might get out of the deal.
I don't care that people use Excel to store the names of every fucking ringing tune they can purchase for their cell phone.
And I even care less about the childish FUD here on Slashdot.
I can't believe Bohemian Rhapsody didn't make your list.
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me,for me,for me
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
Redhat, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, aka, the distros people actually use, havent done this.
All the distributions that are more or less dead because they either have horrible names or dont offer much are signing the pact to squeeze water from a stone. or try to be relevent again when microsoft starts suing all the real (as in, distributions that have more than 10,000 users) distributions for tons of vague patent and copyright issues that are either all prior art, or were things created in countries that didnt have the patent or didnt have software patents.
Microsoft has created shill company that collects patents and sues. So, even though Microsoft hasn't sued Novell it's shill company did. How's that for a pact?
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
1. Make a "no patent lawsuit" deal with Microsoft.
2. Sell free software to terrified businesses.
3. ???
4. Profit.
Of course, one of the many gaping holes in this plan is that it assumes that Microsoft is the only company that has patents. Any large company could start a similar racket. And any patent troll could bring the clients down.
This business model is something akin to selling a can of green beans with a big sticker reading "No glass shards!": It hopes to imply there is something wrong with your competition while at the same time ignoring that there are worse things to find in your beans...
Nah, I was thinking of the song, Master of Puppets.
Obey your master, MASTER!
Repeat quickly MS Turbolinux, MS Turbolinux, MS Turbolinux, MS Turbolinux...
Well okay, it's funnier in Spanish or Italian.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
I believe I downloaded them a few years ago and they were just horrific so I tossed the CD. Turbolinux is apparently at position 75 on distrowatch.com. We can watch it drop quickly.
What they are doing is taking the infusion of cash to make a quick profit for the founders and they don't care if Turbolinux itself dies.
Of course no one really believes Turbolinux has any patents or other intellectual property to deal with so one must ask how they got Microsoft to agree. One must conclude that Microsoft is desperate to get any so they can make it look like they are being buddies with the community when they are sued again for very aggrievous monopoly infractions of the law. It is coming boys and girls. Another huge suit that ultimately will brake up Microsoft. Now that's just my opinion but I think it will happen. Probably in the next 5 years. I think Microsoft knows it. They are doing everything to make it appear like they are working with this or that.
Honestly tho how do you explain several Microsoft employees leaving Microsoft to join a company which has the sole purpose of suing for IP? Then think about how that company sued Novell whom Microsoft said they wouldn't sue. Let's get real here. Microsoft is doing a ropadope. Just watch out for that left hook people. In this field of IP too much paranoia is not enough.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
1 - Linux does not infringe upon anything microsoft. Even if it did, if microsoft brought any lawsuit on the matter, the capital behind linux defense would be so immense due to big corps and foundations and even governments giving a shoulder to it that, it would eventually end up like sco case.
2 - Microsoft vs linux is a lost case for microsoft in europe. Eu favors linux, loves it, encourages it from underhand. Eu dislikes microsoft practices. (evident from latest rulings) And even some governments in europe heavily invest in linux. (some french govt agencies, some states in germany, central europeans and so on).
3 - Big markets for software are, U.S., Eu, China, Southeast asia general, Japan. Eu is lost to microsoft. In eu, companies play with eu rules, not their own. China is a communist party dicta, if microsoft goes foul with them (and they dare not) poooooof - a country that can put out 28 million out on duty to inform on great firewall breakers can field a million programmers to weed out microsoft code from linux and come up with their own distro, and then oust microsoft for good. noone can raise an objection, its communist party - you gotta stomach it. Southeast asia is a mixed pot, where ms can win, it can lose in someplace else, and they are so accustomed to piracy that they wouldnt care whether linux infringed upon microsoft and their govt ruled against it or not. That leaves only US and Japan as playgrounds for microsoft. in u.s. only, ms can put a strong lawsuit, but, as said, in here there is much capital to defend linux that microsoft dare not do it either. i wont name names and companies and foundations here, but you know them all already. So, there is only japan. the only weak place against microsoft is japan, and korea, and that japanese company did the only viable thing they could do. i dont blame them.
Read radical news here
If linux had come under such an attack, and a foundation makes an announcement for need of donations to an emergency linux defense fund, there are SO many developers, webmasters, communities that would put the donation buttons on their sites and garner SO many donations that, the amount they could gather up would make microsoft's yearly revenues look ridiculous. with that kind of funds, an entire senate can be bought. therefore i dont see anything to scare away from linux.
Read radical news here
Novell signed the pact and a lot of good that did, Microsoft has sued Novell anyway. Do not deal with the devil, it may seem tempting but in the end you will regret it.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
deal with the devil and you get burned. novell has lerned this lession the hard way. the so called patent is a weak one and was shot down in the 80s aruldy. rember it was m$ apple vs xerox and xerox lost.
How is it that Microsoft could sue the users of Linux? I'm a Linux user. I have a computer running Linux. Am I to understand that Microsoft believes it can sue me? If a car manufacturer believed another car manufacturer was infringing on its patents, wouldn't it go after the allegedly infringing manufacturer and not those people who had purchased a car manufactured by said manufacturer? Can someone sort me out on this?
I just realised I made a car analogy. I'm so very sorry.
"Turbo Linux" and "China"
:)
on >url>http://www.google.com
& see...
As Keifer Sutherland said in the film "The Lost Boys", about Rice:
"How can 5 million Chinese be wrong Michael?"
I had to stop reading the article. It doesn't agree with Slashdot's tone. The article here makes it seem that Microsoft is threatening to sue Linux users for patent infringement, while the aritcle at BetaNews sounds like simple Mutual agreement so that networks are more compatible. Quite frankly I can't understand how you can sue a user of an operating system for patent infringement. Were Microsoft users sued when Microsoft was sued on the premises of anti-trust laws? Did Overture sue advertisers on Google and the people that clicked on them, let alone Google's users? Did Geico sue people that clicked on sponsored links other than the ones to the Official Geico site? No. They sued the company the made the application. I have enough trouble configuring my network correctly with Comcast, six computers, three wireless (one B, two G), two Mac with non-Intel processor, and a Motorola router with Vonage and Wireless-B/G. You run into an impossible number of problems with Apache and FileZilla FTP Server when you try to configure them on the network (cough, routers fault). While I choose not to read it because it's the information is too conflicting, anything to improve network compatibility is good news, especially if the money goes to the developers of systems who's network compatibility is neglected.
Doesn't Microsoft usually end up paying out with these things? My proposition:
I'm not saying Microsoft is right, but I wouldn't mind making a few bucks helping them be wrong.
Maybe not
I mean it. TurboLinux need not pay much to Microsoft, if its main users are in China and India. I do not think Microsoft has many valid patents in China and Inda. (Anyone has data?)
I think we're looking at this the wrong way around. I'm gonna dust off those Morphix CDs, build a distro or two, and stand in line for the Microsoft bucks! Make sure you look whipped as you're signing, and only grudgingly accept the check!
This could be construed as OT, but I find the timing of this little event to be very suspicious.
Not only with the long term Microsoft execs heading there this month, but more importantly in relation to the SCO case. These guys sued almost directly after the SCO issue fell through. It's the sort of timing you would expect if an entity behind the scenes were switching to "plan b".
Who is turbolinux again? Oh, and btw, they can kiss any gpl3 stuff goodbye now. And unlike novell, i seriously doubt they have the resources to fork it themselves.
They call it a "cross-licensing of the two companies' patent portfolios." What kind of patent portfolio can Turbolinux possibly have, and how could it possibly be a threat to Microsoft? A related question would be whether you can call it a patent portfolio if you have less than two patents.
Assuming (and I think this would be a reasonable assumption) that Microsoft would feel exactly zero threat from Turbolinux's patent portfolio, and assuming they're going to be paying Turbolinux a healthy sum to enter into the agreement as they have with Novell, executives at Turbolinux and GNU/Linux users in general have to be asking themselves what Microsoft is actually buying for the bundle they'll (presumably) be handing over to Turbolinux.
This is not a rhetorical question. Perhaps I'm daft, but the fact that, on the surface, a "cross-licensing" arrangement doesn't seem to make economic sense for one of the parties for the reasons ostensibly given by the parties entering into the agreement piques my curiosity.
-- My choice of computing platform is a symbol of my individuality and belief in personal freedom.
Business plan:
1. Create a new Linux Distro or resurrect a old one.
2. Strike a deal with Microsoft to not get sued by them.
3. Profit.
The new distro name: Sellout Linux.
Just saying it like it are.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
No es cierto....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
You look positively idiotic.
Yours
Tux.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
It's over there. SPLITTER!
None of these distros have any real percentage of users. Turbolinux has been all but dead for a long while. Novell Linux is a joke, but then, so is Novell. Linspire, no better. Xandros, no better either. Just ignore them, don't buy their shit, oops, I mean distributions. Again, this is why the Linux kernel MUST be moved to GPL v3. This would cut this patent bullshit from Microsoft out, or at least force these parasites to bloody well fucking fork their own kernels under a GPL v2 release.
Linus is a stubborn, cowardic fool.
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
Please, I beg of you good sir, before you move too boldly and rashly, FOR GODS SAKE, WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE POKEMON!!
Cue: Rob Halford:
I'm Your Turbo Linux!
"oohhh... I didn't know Schopenhauer was a philosopher!"
The last I used of turbolinux was back when the pre-release testing was going on, and I went through some of the early alpha releases. I helped the guy do some testing with it for some time and made some suggestions, he was just a one man show back then I believe. Later he sent me the first couple official releases so I checked them out, then I went back to using slackware/suse for my servers/desktops. I figured it went the way of stampede and other less popular releases.
"TurboLinux;" isn't that a Judas Priest song?
Really, expect more of this. Because the distros are not really differentiated in their respective classes, if the choice for a major company or project is choosing between "patents guarenteed by Red Hat", a company with less annual revenue than is probably being generated by MS' Halo III sales this quarter; or patent protection by agreement with the potential aggressor, that's easy.
That's way below the threshold of distros that most linux users have even heard of.
I hate self-replies, but the typo...
... their business model turned out to be
Caldera
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
instead of spitting crap around in insulting and uncivil manner by anonymous coward crecedentials, post with your own nick, if you want to be taken seriously.
Read radical news here
It's more like saying you have certainly broken *some* laws today. OK, they may be 15th century laws regarding the keeping of livestock (your pet cat).
It means nothing because it's going to be true that *I* broke some laws too. If they were enforced, they would be taken off the books.
Same with the patents. MS certainly infringes thousands of patents (at 0.1% of the gross for licensing cost each...). If someone tried to get some money from MS for those patents, they would be removed or rescinded.