[ale] Is Ubuntu next? Re: Microsoft signs latest Linux-related deal with Linspire

[ale at hopnet.net (Keith Hopkins ALE)]

James P. Kinney III wrote:
> 
> A side note: RedHat has stated rather strongly that they see no need to
> participate in this line of deal making with the devil. Debian is safe
> due to no formal business setup. Is Ubuntu next on the firing line?

First, it would probably be Canonical, not Ubuntu, that M$ would want to deal with.  Keeping that in mind....

In an interview with Duncan McLeod of the Financial Mail, a South African business magazine, the CEO of Canonical and Ubuntu's chief supporter, Mark Shuttleworth, compared Microsoft's patents deals to racketeering.

"Microsoft is asking people to pay them for patents, but they won't say which ones. If a guy walks into a shop and says: 'It's an unsafe neighborhood, why don't you pay me 20 bucks and I'll make sure you're okay,' that's illegal. It's racketeering. What Microsoft is doing with intellectual property is exactly the same. It's a great company and I have great admiration for it, but this was not a well considered position," said Shuttleworth.