Ballmer Repeats His Demand for License Payments from Red Hat Users
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has again demanded license payments from Red Hat users.
In his speech at a company event in Great Britain, Ballmer quotes intellectual property infringements as the basis for claims. "People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to compensate us," Ballmer said. This isn’t the first time that the Redmond boss has targeted attacks at Linux distributor Red Hat. In contrast to Novell and other Linux companies like Xandros or Linspire, Red Hat has not yet signed “patent assurances” with Microsoft, although Microsoft is obviously pushing in this direction.
Referring to the continuing attacks by Microsoft, Red Hat Germany boss Werner Knoblich said that the only topic for an agreement that Red Hat could see thus far was that of interoperability between the two operating systems. Red Hat Germany has issued a statement on the subject.
To give customers assurances, Red Hat recently set up a website explaining the legal situation from its point of view. Red Hat points to its "Open Assurance Program" in which it assures customers that it would immediately replace every single line of provably controversial code. Red Hat currently has no information on claims against Linux code: “We are also aware of no patent lawsuit against Linux. Ever. Anywhere.”
In the course of his appearance at the conference, Ballmer went even further and accused Open Source users in general of infringing on Microsoft’s patents. This isn‘t the first time that the corporation has threatened FOSS users with lawsuits. In March 2006, stated that it was his duty towards his shareholders, and the attacks have not stopped despite agreements being signed with Linux companies like Novell (November 2006). In an interview with Forbes magazine, Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith even specified the numbers, stating that Microsoft had ascertained that free software infringed on more than 235 patents.
Microsoft employee Lars Lindstedt published Ballmer’s controversial speech on a British corporate website.
Issue 269/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
Kubuntu Focus Announces XE Gen 2 Linux Laptop
Another Kubuntu-based laptop has arrived to be your next ultra-portable powerhouse with a Linux heart.
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.
-
openSUSE Leap 15.5 Beta Now Available
The final version of the Leap 15 series of openSUSE is available for beta testing and offers only new software versions.
-
Linux Kernel 6.2 Released with New Hardware Support
Find out what's new in the most recent release from Linus Torvalds and the Linux kernel team.