[rescue] fwd: Microsoft demands royalties for open-source software

[Magnus]

Sandwich Maker wrote:
> anyone think these cases have serious merit, or is the deep-pockets
> just trying to bury the opposition with legal costs?


Considering IBM probably has a bigger patent portfolio than Microsoft, 
and IBM has almost as many developers dedicated to producing F/OSS as 
RHAT (and certainly more than Novell), I think this is just saber 
rattling.  If it came down to a fight, Microsoft would stand to lose 
quite a lot.

They really don't understand F/OSS as a business rival.  They don't know 
how to compete against it, how to outmaneuver it.  So I think all they 
can do at this point is posture themselves and hope to scare some 
customers away from the big F/OSS vendors.  They certainly can't hope to 
compete on the quality of their products.