[ale] What do y'all think about Microsoft's new war? Shadow Boxing M$ style

Andrew Brown dutch.fedora at gmail.com
Tue May 15 12:06:00 EDT 2007


Michael B. Trausch wrote:
> On Mon, 2007-05-14 at 15:26 -0600, JK wrote:
>> IMO it's more the fact that patent protections can be extended
>> more or less indefinitely that causes the problem.  Patents -- even
>> on software -- that expire after, say, two years, would be fine,
>> I think.  I mean, I can see that having to worry about your invention
>> being appropriated by a competitor before you even have large-scale
>> production under way would be a disincentive to bringing an item
>> to market in the first place.  And unlike the Shipstone Corporation,
>> most inventors can't make their products violently resistant to
>> reverse engineering...
>
> I think that you're right.  Particularly in technology; I think if 
> patents are allowed to exist at all, they must be limited to a 
> duration or no more than 1 years' time when they involve software, 
> algorithms, computer chip designs, whatever.
>
> The biggest thing that I can see is that this will strike fear into 
> the hearts of would-be Linux users, and that is not something that I 
> would say is a good thing.  A move like this from Microsoft is only 
> designed to hurt the community.
>
>     -- Mike
>
> --
> Michael B. Trausch 	
> fd0man at gmail.com <mailto:fd0man at gmail.com>
> Phone: (404) 592-5746 	
> Jabber IM: 	fd0man at gmail.com
> fd0man at livejournal.com
>
> *Demand Freedom!  Use **/open/** and **/free/** protocols, standards, 
> and software!*
> "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without 
> evidence." ?Christopher Hitchens
>
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All this rumbling from Redmond is about one thing, free advertising. 
With Big Boy B in charge he wants the name in the market as much as 
possible. Vista stinks, and Apple is killing them in the move to a 
disk'less society. The Novell deal (as if it is really a deal of any 
real substance) and this little shadow boxing event serve only to get 
their name in front of the market for free. Look at us! We are hear chit 
chatting away about M$ on a Linux discussion group. Its not that there 
are people in some far away corner of the market that do not know nor 
have they ever heard of M$. What is the driver is the desire to have 
consumers thinking about M$. Decisions makers in big business deals are 
getting inundated with  alternatives to the current  debacle that  is 
Vista, high cost SQL and M@ Server, and a new look but not so new look 
(in price) Office suite (yes I know the debacle aspect is debatable, we 
can serve that up some other time). The door is open for Open Source 
with cost management and lean processes on the doorstep of every 
decision maker in the market. Though none of this will in effect, I 
believe, steer any decision maker away from choosing an Open Source 
alternative. I do think it will bum's rush the ideas of Microsoft back 
into the picture. All things equal it is the name in front of the face 
that has the best chance to get the sale. Just ask any salesperson, 
including Big Boy B @ M$.

So fret not my fellow Linux enthusiast, if M$ intended to sue or in 
effect push for concessions from this effort, they sure as heat in hades 
would have done so already. They don't need a press conference to make 
that happen, and lawyers with real cases they intend to pursue don't 
need the press to make their case happen. $175 and some legal size 
printing paper can make that happen in a 10 minute template composition 
and a drive to the courthouse. I personally think the legal division @ 
M$ has found itself redefined as a subgroup of marketing. Nothing like 
being a pawn of the man.



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