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The community promise is worthless: http://www.fsf.org/news/2009-07-mscp-mono http://www.fsf.org/news/2009-07-mscp-mono

• tzs 15y ago
  FUD. A summary of their argument is (1) Microsoft has software not covered by the promise, and (2) the promise only covers the patents you need to implement the covered specification. Neither of these makes the promise worthless. This is no more worthless than the similar promises from IBM, Sun, and many others that cover a huge number of specifications that are widely used in open source. It's the normal way patents are made available for free use in implementing specifications.
  • lukeschlather 15y ago
    > The Community Promise does not give you any rights to exercise the patented claims. It only says that Microsoft will not sue you over claims in patents that it owns or controls. If Microsoft sells one of those patents, there's nothing stopping the buyer from suing everyone who uses the software. Microsoft can sell the patents, and the buyer can sue you. And what happened when Oracle bought Sun? Oracle got sue-happy. It's not like Microsoft has been a model citizen up until now. They're actively suing manufacturers who are using Linux, especially in the consumer space. It's not FUD - it's reality. Microsoft is very clear about what they're planning on doing to manufacturers who dare to ship consumer hardware that doesn't pay the Microsoft tax.
    • chrisjsmith 15y ago
      Exactly!
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