I just have 2 words for whoever is responsible for this tread:
wipe-out the-spam.
thanks

Hmm, almost sounds like there might be a deal there that we aren't hearing about.

I think at this point we can really move onto more productive and collaborative discussion and admit that we are no longer in any sort of "file format war.

It isn't such an easy question. Too many things involved.

Microsoft will not be suing the collective parties directly. If any action were to be made it would be in the effect of waiting for real values of patent infringment then a settlement later out of court. Its all about getting proof and supplementing that proof to make the battle worth while.

Indeed true. I saw that documentary and it was really a good one.

In the tech world Microsoft is like George Bush in the Political world. They rule. I have to agree that Microsoft did not come out with something original, but that is a fight that will last for a long long time with an un-obvious outcome.

As rightly said by you... But, anyways thats the reason why we guys use open source

Exactly - so what will happen ?? Will they all be sued ??? Surely that ever happening is most unlikely.

You could say that about any executable installed on your system, why would you think Microsoft is going to be the one to violate your privacy (whatever that even means)? No company is under a bigger magnifying glass, particularly in regards to privacy, so I wouldn't call that a reason.

In any case, MS has started to back off from it's hardline stance against competition.

Yes, come to sue me, too. I use GNU/Linux. I will continue to use GNU/Linux. Phil Hughes of SSC dared SCO to come sue him in Costa Rica, and I dare Microsoft to come sue me in Venezuela.

Come on, Microsoft, ¡adelante! As the famous chico monito estadounidense put it so well: GIVE IT UP FOR MEEEEEE!!!!!

And spammers can come spam me here :-)

That's the other great crime here. The actions of Novell's top management have also spit on the contributions of the OpenSuSE developers, too. Unfortunately, we must also avoid OpenSuSE like the plague. The reason is that most of it, too, is covered under that Novell/Microsoft patent agreement. They even say so in their FAQ, available at http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/faq.html.

"Q. From the customer's perspective, what is covered in openSUSE?
"The patent agreement covers everything from openSUSE.org that is included in past and current Novell supported versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. It also covers future versions (for 5 years) of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, with recognition of the fact that development changes may occur that fall outside the terms of this agreement. While some future scenarios may not be included, we have established a working relationship and structure to have conversations about those issues as they arise."

So Novell has directly stated that "the patent agreement covers everything from openSUSE.org that is included in past and current Novell supported versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop."

Now, let's say that you're Novell management, and your Microsoft masters direct you to slip some code in, on which MS claims patent rights. You do it in OpenSuSE and keep silent about the patent issue, and further, you make that code GPLv2 to keep suspicion down. Remember that OpenSuSE is the basis for SLED/SLES, in much the same way that Fedora is the basis for Red Hat's RHEL product. Thus, those who work on the OpenSuSE distribution are immediately and directly aiding and abetting Novell's participation in this patent deal. It's a shame, but it's true.

Worse, that aforementioned GPLv2'd code that Microsoft thinks it has patent claims on, could easily (being GPL'd) end up in many other distributions, too--Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, Yellow Dog, etc. Novell/Microsoft has just infected us all. Oops....

I hope that the members of the OpenSuSE team (including the ones on Novell's payroll) someday wake up, realize what they're doing, and jump ship to another distro. There are several very good ones for them to choose from.

IBM's huge software patent arsenal is indeed one reason. The second reason, I believe, involves the European Union.

Remember that MS and many other companies (including IBM!) are very strongly lobbying the EU to allow enforceable software patents, USA-style. If MS goes suing Americans now, the EU will see that, and they likely will say, "no, we don't need that nonsense here." MS/IBM/Apple/YouNameItCorp desperately don't want that to happen. These companies are thinking long-term; first, get what we want (the USA software patent regime), and *then*, go sue every F/OSS developer that we can find all over the USA and Europe. To do that, they've got to appear to the EU decision-makers as "making nice." Suing people doesn't accomplish that.

Remember that the largest software patent holders are USA companies, not European companies. Europeans certainly don't want the USA to be able to extort them financially via software patent lawsuits--or the mere threat of same--thus allowing the USA to control what Europe does with software. I, as a USA citizen, am very glad that not all Europeans are rolling over to my government on this one.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media are bought and paid for by Microsoft advertising dollar$. They will be very reluctant to do anything that they think risks that revenue stream. It's just like the "Tier 1" OEM computer manufacturers; they don't want to risk losing the bribe^H^H^H^H^H "co-marketing" dollar$ that makes or breaks their margins. That's why Dell, HP, Lenovo, Gateway, etc. "recommend Windows Vista™ Home Premium."

There was a post--I think by Nick--about just that, and someone brought up PC Ragazine. At this point, there's just no way we can equal the advertising dollar$ that Microsoft pumps out, and until that economic model changes somehow, mainstream media will continue to promote their cash source: Microsoft. The mainstream tech press is especially guilty of this, but the Washington Post, etc. also suckle at the Microsoft teat.

Twelve years ago, a guy at PC Ragazine had written, and wanted to publish, an article about the truth of Windows 95. Needless to say, the article was not favorable to the product. This dude got fired as an example to others. Why? "Microsoft is our biggest advertiser, don't you know that??"

Word of mouth is, right now, the best thing I see that we have going. We've just got to keep maximizing it. Maybe Canonical has the money; they certainly have the desire.