Linux vouchers, Microsoft, and GPL3: separating the signal from the noise
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is not convinced that distribution of SUSE vouchers makes
| the company subject to GPL requirements. Richard Wilder, a patent
| lawyer for the Association of Competitive Technology (an
| organization partially funded by Microsoft), argues that Microsoft
| isn't subject to the GPL because the company isn't literally
| distributing Linux or any other piece of GPL-licensed software.
| Speaking to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Wilder said, "[Microsoft
| is] not distributing Linux. They're providing somebody access to a
| service, but they're not providing copies of Linux on a disk, and
| they're not providing somebody access to Linux for the purpose ofd
| ownload, and so they're not engaged in any distribution."
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http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070521-linux-vouchers-microsoft-and-gpl3-separating-the-signal-from-the-noise.html
http://tinyurl.com/yqx3bp
A Group Conversation with Eben Moglen, Part II
,----[ Quote ]
| In Part II, Moglen discusses how the GPL3 relates software as
| services, Novell, and linking to other pieces of code. An example
| of how software should be managed for the public good, and a
| discussion of the differences between lawyers and engineers
| is also within.
`----
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/interviews/6388/1/
As ye sue, so shall ye reap?
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft seemed satisfied in the past to wage the battle against
| Linux through its SCO Group proxy, but SCO's lawsuit against IBM --
| claiming IBM contributed SCO intellectual property to Linux -- has
| been slowly circling the drain for some time. With Windows Vista
| sales hardly taking flight, and Microsoft's next-generation server
| operating system -- Longhorn -- still not ready for prime time, it
| seems that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer decided it was
| time to unleash the lawyers to buy the Redmondians some time.
|
| Meanwhile, Novell may start selling a lot more SuSE Linux, because
| Novell and Microsoft's software patent agreement shields the
| distribution against Redmond's wrath. But that agreement hasn'tw
| on Novell a lot of friends. The free-software community has risen
| up to protest Novell's moves, urging people to dump SuSE. And
| many open-source license-holders are considering relicensing key
| libraries to the Limited GNU Public License to exclude SuSE from
| using them.
`----
http://www.gcn.com/print/26_11/44306-1.html
|
|
