Novell,MS and Xen

[Ben Scott]

On 11/11/06, Jeffry Smith <jsmith at alum.mit.edu> wrote:might
> Only one problem - I doubt Novell owns all the Unix copyrights.

  I've noticed that reality is not the dominating factor in the world
of big court battles.

  My personal pet-conspiracy-theory is that this is just Microsoft's
first step in an attempt to gain control of Linux by buying or
destroying major Linux companies.  Which is not to say that the
attempt will succeed.  Thankfully, ownership "Linux" as software is so
diverse that I think even Microsoft would find that impossible.  But
they may well make life difficult.  Worse, they could scare the
commercial markets.  There's lots of companies that want a company
(like Red Hat, Novell, etc.) behind their Linux operations, because it
makes their suits feel better.  A full-on assault from Microsoft could
make the suits feel worried indeed.

> And, it makes no difference to Linux anyway.  No patents left (over 20
> years), Trademark to The Open Group, no trade secrets.  That leaves
> copyrights.  Which Linux doesn't violate.

  You're assuming any "intellectual property" that Linux might
"violate" is from the original Unix source.  Linux is largely new
code, and there are plenty of new ideas in it.  Say Microsoft says
some algorithm Linux 2.4 introduced is patented by them.  That's
ammunition for a court attack.  Even if it's bullsh*t, by the time
that gets settled, Red Hat (or whoever) might be mortally wounded.

-- Ben