Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
from distributors and users.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...3867/index.htm

Gill Bates

Gill Bates wrote:
> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...3867/index.htm

And how many patents don't they violate that are in the open source
community's disposal? Microsoft won't do anything, as they would have to pay
far more than they could earn.

They just want to scare costumers to stay with them, soon you will read the
following line in the microsoft EULA, "You will be sued if you will switch
over to Linux." ;)


--

//Aho

Gill Bates wrote:

> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.
>
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu.../28/100033867/
index.htm
>
> Gill Bates

How about the /thousands/ of pieces of code that MS have stolen? Some even
from me! The basis of their "operating system" is almost entirely
"borrowed" from other sources.

C.

Gill Bates said:
> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...3867/index.htm
>
> Gill Bates

There are still thugs, er, I mean companies, who go about threating
that "your business might burn down unless you pay us to protect
it". Only now they have the law to help them pursue their "business".
Basic problem for them (MS) is it's hard to bully a non-entity.

I recall a like scare several years back in which many were afraid
Linux would end due to "stolen" code in the kernel: SCO vs. the world
hasn't harmed Linux growth at all. Part of SCO's heretofore unsuccessful
bid to charge us all a fee for that so-called stolen code is because of
those who pay lawyers to fight against such bids.

If you happily employ Linux, I request that you too join the fight
against MS, and their ilk, by donating any amount you can at:
http://tinyurl.com/2ankfs
--
sk8r-365

http://goodbye-microsoft.com/

Christopher Hunter writes:
> How about the /thousands/ of pieces of code that MS have stolen? Some
> even from me!

What court is hearing your case against them? I'm sure Groklaw would be
interested in following it.
--
John Hasler
john@dhh.gt.org
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA

On Wed, 30 May 2007 20:11:29 +0200, Gill Bates wrote:

> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...3867/index.htm
>
> Gill Bates

1) that's old news.

2) what they want and what they're likely to get could be entirely
different.

Gill Bates wrote:
> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.

Ironically, nearly none (if not none) of these "intellectual properties"
were actually conjured by Microsoft. For instance, the first Start menu was
actually developed by Berkeley Softworks (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/GEOS)

It's no coincidence that Microsoft begain going downhill at the same time
Steve Ballmer became CEO. The man's a fool. Unfortunately for them, they
have nowhere to go but down, especially since they started with such a poor
foundation as DOS.

--
Joshua David Williams

(QDOS == "Quick & Dirty Operating System) --> (DOS == "Dirty Operating
System")

Joshua David Williams wrote:
> Gill Bates wrote:
>> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
>> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
>> from distributors and users.
>
> Ironically, nearly none (if not none) of these "intellectual properties"
> were actually conjured by Microsoft. For instance, the first Start menu was
> actually developed by Berkeley Softworks (See
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/GEOS)
>
> It's no coincidence that Microsoft begain going downhill at the same time
> Steve Ballmer became CEO. The man's a fool. Unfortunately for them, they
> have nowhere to go but down, especially since they started with such a poor
> foundation as DOS.
>

So what's new. Apple sued MS for "stealing" the concept of a
point-n-click gui and the trash can icon, which they in turn stole from
xerox. Now where is Apple?

Assuming Microsoft even has a legitimate case (which they don't), their
next problem is - who are they going to sue in a publicly developed o/s?
The end users? If they do they'll be suing companies who are their own
customers who will promptly stop using MS products. They have nothing to
gain with this. Ballmer needs to sit down and shut up.

On 2007-05-30, Chuck <skilover_nospam@bluebottle.com> wrote:
> So what's new. Apple sued MS for "stealing" the concept of a
> point-n-click gui and the trash can icon, which they in turn stole from
> xerox. Now where is Apple?

What exactly has Apple stolen from Xerox?

AFAIK, Xerox got a better deal - they had gotten a bunch of Apple shares
in return for their GUI technology.
--
sig=[]
sig.append({'hr':'Znanje je zastrasujuce.'})
sig.append({'en':'Knowledge is intimidating.'})

After takin' a swig o' grog, Gill Bates belched out this bit o' wisdom:

> Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk
> of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties
> from distributors and users.
> http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...3867/index.htm
>
> Gill Bates

It will go over about as well as did SCO's bull-crap.

Microsoft is simply bluffing.

How low they've sunk.

--
"I think we're all Bozos on this bus." -- The Firesign Theatre

After takin' a swig o' grog, Davorin Vlahovic belched out this bit o' wisdom:

> On 2007-05-30, Chuck <skilover_nospam@bluebottle.com> wrote:
>> So what's new. Apple sued MS for "stealing" the concept of a
>> point-n-click gui and the trash can icon, which they in turn stole from
>> xerox. Now where is Apple?
>
> What exactly has Apple stolen from Xerox?
>
> AFAIK, Xerox got a better deal - they had gotten a bunch of Apple shares
> in return for their GUI technology.

I saw a show about early PC technology, and apparently Xerox management
really screwed up. If they'd listened to their developers, we could
have had Xerox-based windowing systems in 1980.

In more recent news, Microsoft innovates the touch-screen-in-a-table.
Video poker anyone?

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...tdevice30.html

--
0 and 1. Now what could be so hard about that?

Joshua David Williams said:

>
> Ironically, nearly none (if not none) of these "intellectual properties"
> were actually conjured by Microsoft. For instance, the first Start menu was
> actually developed by Berkeley Softworks (See
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/GEOS)

Boy does the *ever* look familiar !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BBENS412.png

Did Msoft _ever_ do *any* original?

>
> It's no coincidence that Microsoft begain going downhill at the same time
> Steve Ballmer became CEO. The man's a fool. Unfortunately for them, they
> have nowhere to go but down, especially since they started with such a poor
> foundation as DOS.
>

Either you're being generous about Msoft "going down hill" in OS
quality or you intend that their market shares are diminishing. If market
share - good! If quality, then I must wonder how one declines from
the bottom.

--
sk8r-365

http://goodbye-microsoft.com/

After takin' a swig o' grog, sk8r-365 belched out this bit o' wisdom:

> Joshua David Williams said:
>
>> Ironically, nearly none (if not none) of these "intellectual properties"
>> were actually conjured by Microsoft. For instance, the first Start menu was
>> actually developed by Berkeley Softworks (See
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/GEOS)
>
> Boy does the *ever* look familiar !
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BBENS412.png
>
> Did Msoft _ever_ do *any* original?

This is even better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEOS_%2...ting_system%29

A fully windowed system on the Commodore 64.

A few months earlier:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Windows1.0.png

Note that it supported only tiled windows (except for the dialog boxes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_st

The screen shot is misleading, too simple. Full support for overlapping
Windows.

And the true kicker, probably the best of the circa 1985 lot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga

(Disclaimer: I owned an Atart ST, not the Amiga).

I remember thinking, at a computer demo from an IBM enthusiast, what
crap Windows was compared to the ST.

--
The three Rs of Microsoft support: Retry, Reboot, Reinstall.

John Hasler wrote:

> Christopher Hunter writes:
>> How about the /thousands/ of pieces of code that MS have stolen? Some
>> even from me!
>
> What court is hearing your case against them? I'm sure Groklaw would be
> interested in following it.

As you well know, there's /no/ mileage whatsoever in taking any case against
MS. They have so much money that they can keep any case against them in
court forever - it's how they "won" against Apple. I'm rich enough, but I
couldn't afford to spend the rest of my natural life in court!

C.

Joshua David Williams wrote:

> It's no coincidence that Microsoft begain going downhill at the same time
> Steve Ballmer became CEO. The man's a fool. Unfortunately for them, they
> have nowhere to go but down, especially since they started with such a
> poor foundation as DOS.

*All* the competent programmers at MS left within a year of Ballmer taking
over. The remaining ones think that Visual Basic is a programming
language!

C.