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Xandros CEO Andreas Typaldos said Thursday his company did not agree that its Linux distribution violates any Microsoft patents nor did the software giant ask Xandros to do so as part of the patent cross-licensing deal the two signed Monday.
Microsoft and Linux distributor Xandros on June 4 signed a broad set of collaboration and patent agreements that reminded many of the November 2006 Microsoft/Novell partnership. What do analysts and other Linux vendors think this new deal means for Linux?
Microsoft Corp. said Monday it will share technology with Linux distributor Xandros Inc., the latest in a string of deals meant to help the patent-protected Windows operating system work more smoothly with open-source programs.
Microsoft again claims to be "owning" Linux and Melco says "yes". Microsoft's patent racket has just hit another company, which sold out to Microsoft without a fight, just like Novell. It pays Microsoft for Linux products.
OK, so why have Novell, Xandros, and Linspire all gotten into bed with Microsoft? Is it...
1. They were seduced by Steve Ballmer's charming smile?
2. They've gone over to the dark side of the force?
3. Terror of Microsoft's mighty patent portfolio had them groveling at Microsoft's feet?
There has been so much talk in the last two weeks that Microsoft has changed with regard to its patent policy toward Free Software. We fool ourselves if we trust any of the window-dressing that Microsoft has put forward to convince us that we can trust them in this regard.
The trade press reported a lot of rumors this past week about the chances for a patent protection pact between Red Hat and Microsoft similar to the agreements Microsoft negotiated with Novell, Xandros, and Linspire. Red Hat doesn't appear to be interested in the least. Here's why.
You may know of Xandros Linux; for many people exposure came through the Eee PC, with this being the distro chosen by Linux-turncoat ASUS. Yet, what is Xandros' stance on open source software? Might Xandros be a thinly-veiled Microsoft tout as Linspire reborn?
Few events have created more fodder for the blogosphere, more fuel for Microsoft critics and more emotional responses than the Microsoft patent deals with Novell, Linspire and Xandros. While putting together a list of things people hate about these deals is easy, generating a list of positive aspects is much harder.