4 ms·

How does Microsoft benefit from this step?

jandrese 8y ago
It encourages people to use Microsoft technologies without having to worry about patents or licensing issues. Ultimately Microsoft probably thinks that the extra Windows licenses will generate more revenue than their patent licenses.
qaq 8y ago
I am guessing they see Cloud Services as their main cash cow so they get a ton of good will and I am guessing more contributors to projects they care about?
BoysenberryPi 8y ago
Microsoft's cash cow is Azure which means the target market are developers so anything that generates good will among devs and puts Microsoft's past further in the back of their minds benefits them.
UseStrict 8y ago
Definitely a lot of goodwill between patent non-aggression, all of their work in the developer community (VSCode), listening to user feedback (most of the time anyways). Also they gain access to other patents in the OIN. Plus most of their revenue seems to be from cloud and licensing, I'm sure they are making a mint on Office, Windows, and Azure without needing any patent aggression. I keep asking myself "is this a trojan horse" and the more time goes on, the less I think it is. Maybe they have actually changed for the better.
- guiriduro 8y ago
  Yes, this Microsoft does seem to have left much of the Gates and especially Ballmer machinations behind - at least as regards its openness and collaboration.
yAnonymous 8y ago
The cynic in me thinks they found a patent in the portfolio that they value at more than 3.4 bn and they can now use it royalty-free.
hnbroseph 8y ago
access to OIN patents, presumably
- svick 8y ago
  But only for their work on "the Linux System", no?
ilaksh 8y ago
Now that Microsoft is offering a packaging of Linux inside Windows (Linux subsystem), by continuing to charge for their old file systems use on phones with Linux, it was basically saying they can access all of Linux for free but to use a small old part of their operating system costs money. In other words it was very unfair. And possibly asking for legal action. Now it's slightly less unfair although it's still questionable that Windows isn't providing _any_ monetary support for Linux that they embed.
- svick 8y ago
  > In other words it was very unfair. How? Linux is intentionally released under an open source license. As far as I know, MS follows that license to the letter. How is that unfair? Things don't have to be perfectly symmetric to be fair. I do think using the FAT patent was wrong on its own, because it was about interoperability when using the one filesystem that can be used everywhere. But I don't think fairness has anything to do with that. > And possibly asking for legal action. What kind of legal action?
remir 8y ago
Linux is king of the server room and Azure is a huge cash cow for them. By changing their attitude towards open source software, they hope to bring more developers towards their cloud.

It encourages people to use Microsoft technologies without having to worry about patents or licensing issues. Ultimately Microsoft probably thinks that the extra Windows licenses will generate more revenue than their patent licenses.

qaq 8y ago

I am guessing they see Cloud Services as their main cash cow so they get a ton of good will and I am guessing more contributors to projects they care about?

BoysenberryPi 8y ago

Microsoft's cash cow is Azure which means the target market are developers so anything that generates good will among devs and puts Microsoft's past further in the back of their minds benefits them.

UseStrict 8y ago

Definitely a lot of goodwill between patent non-aggression, all of their work in the developer community (VSCode), listening to user feedback (most of the time anyways). Also they gain access to other patents in the OIN. Plus most of their revenue seems to be from cloud and licensing, I'm sure they are making a mint on Office, Windows, and Azure without needing any patent aggression. I keep asking myself "is this a trojan horse" and the more time goes on, the less I think it is. Maybe they have actually changed for the better.

guiriduro 8y ago
Yes, this Microsoft does seem to have left much of the Gates and especially Ballmer machinations behind - at least as regards its openness and collaboration.

yAnonymous 8y ago

The cynic in me thinks they found a patent in the portfolio that they value at more than 3.4 bn and they can now use it royalty-free.

hnbroseph 8y ago

access to OIN patents, presumably

svick 8y ago
But only for their work on "the Linux System", no?

ilaksh 8y ago

Now that Microsoft is offering a packaging of Linux inside Windows (Linux subsystem), by continuing to charge for their old file systems use on phones with Linux, it was basically saying they can access all of Linux for free but to use a small old part of their operating system costs money. In other words it was very unfair. And possibly asking for legal action. Now it's slightly less unfair although it's still questionable that Windows isn't providing _any_ monetary support for Linux that they embed.

svick 8y ago
> In other words it was very unfair. How? Linux is intentionally released under an open source license. As far as I know, MS follows that license to the letter. How is that unfair? Things don't have to be perfectly symmetric to be fair. I do think using the FAT patent was wrong on its own, because it was about interoperability when using the one filesystem that can be used everywhere. But I don't think fairness has anything to do with that. > And possibly asking for legal action. What kind of legal action?

remir 8y ago

Linux is king of the server room and Azure is a huge cash cow for them. By changing their attitude towards open source software, they hope to bring more developers towards their cloud.