So what, then, would you call an entity that is in general designed to remove wealth from as many hands as possible and put it into as few hands as possible?
Because, you know, until today IBM never filed for a patent, never held a patent, and never filed a lawsuit against someone else for patent infringement. Oh and they never once created proprietary hardware or software. No, until today, they were the most GNU believing corporation on the face of the earth and let anyone and everyone have specs to all their hardware and released the source to ever program they ever wrote.
They actively employ people to use open source, and foster it's development, and yet they are supporting patents? Am I missing something in that general concept?
Yes, you are missing something. They only employ people to work on Linux and other open source software so that it can be used as a means to sell more of their own proprietary hardware and software platforms. It's so cute that you actually thought they were contributing to open source programs out of altruism or because they were believers in the GNU manifesto rather than purely for their own profit gain. You do realize that probably 80% of their revenue, if not more, comes from proprietary hardware and software and the support of said platforms right?
I mean what about employing people to support open office and lotus symphony and all that, which is all expressly supported by IBM?
Because that provides them profit. If they didn't get any profit out of it they wouldn't employ anyone to work on open source software or to support it. IBM doesn't give two shits about the four freedoms or any other ideals of the FOSS movement.
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So what, then, would you call an entity that is in general designed to remove wealth from as many hands as possible and put it into as few hands as possible?
A Linux corporate sponsor?
Because, you know, until today IBM never filed for a patent, never held a patent, and never filed a lawsuit against someone else for patent infringement. Oh and they never once created proprietary hardware or software. No, until today, they were the most GNU believing corporation on the face of the earth and let anyone and everyone have specs to all their hardware and released the source to ever program they ever wrote.
They actively employ people to use open source, and foster it's development, and yet they are supporting patents? Am I missing something in that general concept?
Yes, you are missing something. They only employ people to work on Linux and other open source software so that it can be used as a means to sell more of their own proprietary hardware and software platforms. It's so cute that you actually thought they were contributing to open source programs out of altruism or because they were believers in the GNU manifesto rather than purely for their own profit gain. You do realize that probably 80% of their revenue, if not more, comes from proprietary hardware and software and the support of said platforms right?
I mean what about employing people to support open office and lotus symphony and all that, which is all expressly supported by IBM?
Because that provides them profit. If they didn't get any profit out of it they wouldn't employ anyone to work on open source software or to support it. IBM doesn't give two shits about the four freedoms or any other ideals of the FOSS movement.
I guess we know which side IBM is on. Too bad.
Anyone who has heard anything about IBM in the last 80 years has known what apparently you didn't know until today.