Shuttleworth Says No Ubuntu Deal with Microsoft

[Tom Metro]

http://www.ddj.com/dept/linux/199905145
   Ubuntu Foundation creator Mark Shuttleworth says no
   anti-patent-infringement-lawsuit deal will be signed between Ubuntu
   and Microsoft.

   Mark Shuttleworth, the South African entrepreneur and an founder of
   Canonical Ltd. and the Ubuntu Foundation, has said on his personal
   blog that there are no negotiations underway between Canonical and
   Microsoft to sign any deal to prevent suing over patent
   infringements.

   The announcement puts an end to speculation that Ubuntu would be the
   next to sign such an agreement, after Novell and Linspire. Novell
   and Linspire have both been highly criticized in Linux circles for
   what is seen as legitimizing Microsoft's claims of patent
   infringement by Linux.

   According to Shuttleworth:

   "Allegations of 'infringement of unspecified patents' carry no
   weight whatsoever. We don't think they have any legal merit, and
   they are no incentive for us to work with Microsoft on any of the
   wonderful things we could do together. A promise by Microsoft not to
   sue for infringement of unspecified patents has no value at all and
   is not worth paying for. It does not protect users from the real
   risk of a patent suit from a pure-IP-holder (Microsoft itself is
   regularly found to violate such patents and regularly settles such
   suits). People who pay protection money for that promise are likely
   living in a false sense of security."



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