Balmer says Linux uses Microsoft 'property'

[Christopher Schmidt]

On Sat, Nov 18, 2006 at 04:05:19PM -0500, Ben Scott wrote:
> On 11/18/06, Jefferson Kirkland <numberwhun at gmail.com> wrote:
> >Novell never once said, "Ok, so show me the code in question that
> >you say is yours and show me your patent of ownership. Then, we'll talk."
> 
>  Do we know that?  I thought the deal was made in private.
> 
>  You also have to remember, Novell's top management most likely sees
> this as a way to sell move SuSE licenses.  They might well regard this
> whole situation as a Good Thing.

It's also possible, given the cost of patent legislation, that they
looked at the cost and said "If we fight, we're fucked." I can't say
anything to the likelihood of this situation, but I did want to point it
out as a possibility. I know that most small businesses, when faced with
the possibility of patent legislation, are much more likely to be
successful by simply folding or being bought than by fighting big
lawyers with lots of money. However, Novell doesn't in the least qualify
as 'small company', so I'm not sure (as I said) how likely that
situation is. 

Regards,
-- 
Christopher Schmidt
Web Developer