May 24th, 2007
Microsoft forces hard questions on open source
A Microsoft spokesperson “confirmed it has no immediate plans to sue” over patents. In a statement mailed to ZDNet UK, Microsoft confirmed it would not litigate for now.
No immediate plans. For now.
Open source is getting played.
Microsoft is holding a sword over the head of all open source users, and all open source developers, a sword its lawyers may wield at any time to bankrupt start-ups and send programmers to the poor house.
A lawsuit by a giant company such as Microsoft is a life-changing event. Everyone knows it. We all want to avoid it.
So what is this “no immediate plans for now” nonsense? You either have a case or you don’t. You either sue or you don’t.
Here’s the truth. Microsoft does not have a case. The Roberts Supreme Court is taking a dim view of patents whose aim is to discourage innovation. This is a clear case of patents used in just that way.
Microsoft wants to have it both ways. It wants people to treat it as a good corporate citizen, yet at the same time it wants them to fear crossing it by supporting open source.
Will Microsoft get away with it? Only you can answer that question:
- Are you pulling back your open source plans in the face of these implied threats?
- Or are you going ahead?
- Are you going to continue feeding Microsoft its demanded license fees?
- Or are you going to risk its ire by switching to Linux and Open Office?
Democrats in Congress aren’t the only folks facing hard questions this Memorial Day weekend.
Oh, the picture. It’s a detail of the BillGatus of Borg cover run by Jack Rickard’s Boardwatch Magazine in May, 1996. It’s sort of the Mona Lisa of anti-Microsoft snark
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 05/24/07
