4 ms·

Yeah, now they're just engaging in racketeering against Linux and Android using their patents.

• baldfat 10y ago
  This isn't 2001. Most Microsoft shops in my area are now at least 25% Linux these days on Azure.
  • toolz 10y ago
    What does that have to do with their racketeering?
    • baldfat 10y ago
      What are they racketeering is going on now? People confuse Steve Ballmer with present Microsoft. They don't do the patent wars anymore.
• golfer 10y ago
  The "Scroogled" era wasn't that long ago either. Unbelievably embarrassing. Nor the stealing of Google's search results. I'm not ready to bless Microsoft yet.
  • wmccullough 10y ago
    How long do they have to pay for their past mistakes before they've done enough to placate people?
    • patrickaljord 10y ago
      This is not a past mistake, racketeering against Linux and Android using their patents is still ongoing today.
    • sqeaky 10y ago
      Long enough to earn trust. I still don't trust Sony after the RootKit fiasco, and it might be another decade before I do. Or Sprint after the IQ agent keylogger. There are simply too many other companies with similar products to ms, sony or sprint that have no public dishonesty on their record. I can just use someone else's product until they have been good corporate citizens long enough that I have forgotten.
      • JustUhThought 10y ago
        Honest question, if not Sprint, then who? Verizon is the worst. So, TMobile?
    • aries1980 10y ago
      Have they ever paid for their past mistakes?
• throwawaykf05 10y ago
  Or, asserting their legal right to protect their investment in R&D that latecomers like Linux and Android simply ripped off. Just a matter of perspective, really. Is just that given open source is the dominant religion around these parts, that perspective is in the minority.
  • danblick 10y ago
    Honest question, what do you think was ripped off from Microsoft? I wouldn't think Linux or Android took much from them, really. (When I think of innovation at MS I think of developer tools, research on programming languages and distributed systems, and stuff like Photosync.)
    • tracker1 10y ago
      IIRC, the only areas that have been specifically mentioned have been surrounding filesystem access and structure, which MS has done a lot with, most of it outside patent protection now though. Not sure what else, as most articles can't/won't say as part of the non-disclosed parts of these contracts.
      • bad_user 10y ago
        One of their most potent patent that they're using a lot is the FAT patent. Basically there are filesystems out there that are superior to FAT and not encumbered by patents, but device makers are forced to use FAT because of interoperability reasons. This goes to show that the innovation argument is bullshit.
        • aries1980 10y ago
          Isn't FAT that was ripped off from CP/M?
        • tracker1 10y ago
          FAT is out of patent protection, I believe FAT32 is now too... exFAT is newer, but imho undeserving of an extension patent. Not sure where NTFS is, but with larger external storage, that's my preferred format these days, even using the devices with mac/linux. The BS with the commercialization of ntfs drivers on osx is kind of weird as well... I usually use the macfuse/free/oss driver.
• ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  Are they presently making any legal moves against Linux? Or just Android?