Ballmer said: ...only a customer who has SUSE Linux actually has paid properly for the use of intellectual property from Microsoft.

In net terms, isn't Microsoft paying Novell under the licensing arrangement?

MS spends $7 billion a year on R&D, and it's just now coming out with tabs in IE, where Mozilla has had this feature for around six years or more. How lame can you get.

How many times have Microsoft stole from others?

Windows, MS Explorer, Zune they are all copies of other products so Ballmer stop being a #$%& you have no right to fight that MS has any right from others copying things.

What exactly does that have to do with this article? And MS has had tabs in IE available with the MSN Search bar for at least a year or two, so you're not even entirely correct.

Yeah, I laughed at the $7 billion number too. Ballmer is a subtle as a 20-pound sledge hammer. Hearing him prattle about IP is like listening to some Mafia don give "advice" about the advantages of their insurance policies for small businesses.

This is just a threat intended to scare off developers who don't wan't the hassles and expenseof dealing with a lawsuit when then create apps that become popular. How many independent developers could afford even a deposition with a patent attorney representing them at $400/hour? Ballmer knows this and everytghibng else is just B.S.

The DoJ needs to come down hard on cuddly Steve and his band of miscreants. It seems they have forgotten the terms of their last consent agreement and are falling into their old, bad habits.

Most reactions that I am reading here are very emotional which is a shame and does not put any valid argumentation on the table.
A real debate on this issue should be without emotions and based on facts.

As a reaction to where the R&D is going I can only take as an example the tremendaous effort MS is making against SPAM, the innovation within the Dynamics family, the innovation in UI design, etc.

More info see: http://research.microsoft.com/aboutmsr/pastpresentfuture/contributions.aspx

True, tabs in IE has nothing much to do with it, but if Ballmer is right, why doesn't MS try to stop the distribution of all those linux distro's ?

And you cannot simply sue a community, but every community exists of individuals who can held responsible for patent infringment, why not try to sue every single individual ?

... because it's a lot of FUD, that's why

I generally like Ballmer's directness. He's Mr. No Nonsense. His response lays out several clear objectives about intellectual property rights that have very little do with interoperability.

His statements are anything but direct and clear. He makes high-level hand-waving assertions that Linux somehow infringes on their valuable "IP" (whatever that really means) without actually being specific. If there really are Microsoft patented techniques used in Linux, then why doesn't he come out and say what they are? Then the community can either rewrite the potentially infringing code, or challenge the patents through the appropriate legal channels.

But instead we have MS doing shady deals with Novell that manage to legitimize their nebulous claims, without them having to specify just what SuSE customers are (whether they like it or not) supposed to be indemnified against. It's classic standover tactics.

In recent years, Microsoft has been patenting everything under the sun they can possibly get past the overworked examiners at the PTO. And there have already been numerous dodgy patents; the FAT patent, XML persistence, the IsNot keyword in VB, and many others. Sure, there may be some legitimate patents in there, but without due scrutiny, there are always going to be invalid patents awarded, leaving a potential minefield for other developers.

As other readers have pointed out, DOS was a copy of CP/M, Windows was a copy of the Mac, XBox was a copy of the PlayStation, Word copied WordPerfect, Excel copied Lotus 1-2-3, C# copied Java, Zune copied the iPod. Innovation indeed! They are certainly good at marketing...

"His statements are anything but direct and clear. He makes high-level hand-waving assertions that Linux somehow infringes on their valuable "IP" (whatever that really means)"

I belief this is related to the SCO lawsuits,
Microsoft once had this Unix like product called Xenix (way before Linux even existed).

When Microsoft decided that DOS/Windows was the way to go and wanted nothing to do anymore with Unix (or pay for the royalties to AT&T ) they Licenced Xenix to this start up company called SCO.

SCO then created SCO Unixware from it

Later SCO became Caldera, and this is when Microsoft created parts of Xenix may have drifted in to Linux via the Caldera Linux distributions and the IBM route alledged in the SCO Lawsuits.

I think that this is the infringmend of Microsoft IP by Linux that Ballmer is revering to.

I belief this is related to the SCO lawsuits, Microsoft once had this Unix like product called Xenix (way before Linux even existed

Actually, I strongly suspect it is related to Mono and Samba, and possibly some kernel-related techniques.

(Xenix is lost in the mists of time now, and would have about as much chance as SCO as being a real threat.)

Microsoft have patented a ton of ideas coming out of .NET, and although the Mono folks are trying hard to avoid stepping on a patent landmine in the patent minefield, the odds aren't good.

They have various other patents related to SMB/CIFS that Samba may unwittingly tread near. It's near impossible to read all the possible patents and ensure you don't infringe, so nobody really bothers.

It's sad that Microsoft can't simply compete on better products, but instead have to go around spreading FUD, and planting a patent minefield to shore up their (illegal) monopoly.

All this Novosoft pact about imaginary patents is plain extortion:

ou are under arrest! Move over to SuSE and regain your Freedom!

........What Ballmer is likely to write:

Dear Linux User

We have always known that you are abusing our intellectual property. We can confirm that we hold a patent to almost every innovative idea, even those that are still to be conceived!! Based on this fact, it is virtually impossible for anybody, let alone doing it for free, to come up with a perfect and state-of-the-art system like the linux kernel without violating our well crafted and broad plethora of patents. We strongly believe that nobody can innovate without being handsomely paid for it. That is why we are the industry leaders in innovation, as evidenced by the thousands of patents that we hold.

While I am not in a position to list the actual violations, we are convinced there are there, and plenty of them for that matter. As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed! We simply want to give you good advice to avoid inconveniences in the near future.

Being good boys as we are, we do not intend to disrupt the Linux community, which we can do if we like. We have entered into an agreement with the biggest Linux company - Novell. This agreement will guarantee you freedom on one condition - That you move over to SuSE platform. You see, Novell is destined to become our mirror image in the Linux world - big, innovative, market leader, and all the nice things that you have seen in us!

Every Linux customer basically has an undisclosed balance-sheet liability. We are willing to write off this liability. Novell, being foresighted as they are, have already paid for our intellectual property which is abundant in the Linux kernel.

We do not intend to let our legal bull dogs loose on you because we are too gentle to do that, but if needs be, we may be left without option.

The choice is up to you really. Stay with your non-SuSE distro, and face the legal consequences or migrate to SuSE and have a piece of mind. The first option may cost you a fortune, as small as you are, while we do not even feel a pinch in our cash floor. For the record, our chairman is already donating billions of dollars. A small portion of that money is enough to screw you and your business.

I hope you will make a wise decision!

Yours Sincerely

S.B

I thought about this the other day, I don’t know what Microsoft’s game plan is. However given the amount of trouble patents gives to Microsoft and that the only people to benefit are the legal firms that run the parent system.

Would Microsoft be better of without software patents? Will the outcome of this be that all software patents become impossible to enforce, or are outlawed?

Microsoft may just be helping all of us by showing how silly the parents system has got and forcing it to be reformed.

Hey Mr. Ballmer,

I use *AND DISTRIBUTE* Linux in the USA-- in Nevada, just a few blocks from your licensing operations.

If I'm stealing your 'IP', please stop spreading non-specific FUD in blogs. Sue me for specific violations.

If I recall, MS has a lot more in the bank to pay me punitive and compensatory damages (for inflicting a SLAPsuit and a bunch of FUD on my business) than Caldera/"The SCO Group" has.

If you're not gonna sue for specific violations, Shut The $#^#$ Up. You're damaging MY business with this unsubstantiated drivel.