Microsoft's maneuvering may scare some users away from Linux and other open source software in the short term, said Joe Lindsay, CIO at Secured Funding in Costa Mesa, Calif. "It's like saying, 'I have a big baseball bat, and I'm going to hit somebody,'" Lindsay said. "Everyone runs away."
Computerworld | 06/06/07
Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft claims that open source Open Source Hosting Solutions with 24x7x365 Support – Visit HostMySite.com Latest News about open source technologies infringe on 235 of its patents irked some IT managers last month, while others said they viewed the patent offensive as nothing more than a standard corporate business tactic.
However, none of the half-dozen IT executives who were interviewed about Microsoft's infringement assertions plan to change their open source adoption strategies -- at least, not unless and until there's a good reason for them to do so.
Among the users in the irked camp was Darryl Lemecha, CIO at data aggregator ChoicePoint. The patent claims sounded like "more saber-rattling on Microsoft's part," Lemecha said via e-mail.
Creating Uncertainty
"To throw out broad statements to the marketplace doesn't help anyone," he wrote. "It creates uncertainty for the open source community and causes animosity toward Microsoft. No one wins."
ChoicePoint isn't a major user of open source technology, but it runs Linux servers as well as Unix, Windows and mainframe systems. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company respects Microsoft's desire to defend its intellectual property, Lemecha said. However, he added, the software vendor's claims weren't specific enough to be worrisome at this point. "Nor have they been clear on their planned actions," Lemecha said. "We will not change our plans, but we will watch where this goes."
Joe Lindsay, CIO at Secured Funding in Costa Mesa, Calif., said Microsoft's maneuvering may scare some users away from Linux and other open source software in the short term. "It's like saying, 'I have a big baseball bat, and I'm going to hit somebody,'" Lindsay said. "Everyone runs away."
However, he predicted that in the long run, Microsoft will suffer the most damage, because it should be focusing more on developing innovative products than on threatening other vendors that have outsmarted it. "Their business model is fundamentally changing, and Microsoft is using [the specter of] the courthouse to extend their old way of doing business," Lindsay said.
'Just Business'
On the other hand, Beach Clark Jr., vice president of IT at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, described Microsoft's patent tactic as "just business." The software vendor has a right to protect its patents against infringement, Clark said, although he added that comments implying that Microsoft would like open source users to pay it royalties weren't "a good PR move."
Microsoft executives first fired the shot across the open source community's bow in a story published by Fortune magazine last month. In a statement Microsoft issued confirming the patent claims, the company said it was speaking out because of concerns that Version 3 of the GNU General Public License "attempts to tear down the bridge between proprietary and open source technology that Microsoft has worked to build with the industry and customers."
Microsoft wants to sign more deals with open source software vendors like the one it announced last November with Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell, which agreed to pay Microsoft a share of the revenue from sales of its Suse Linux operating system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server.. The two companies also promised not to sue each other's customers for patent infringement.
Staring People Down?
Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's vice president of intellectual property and licensing, said last week that the deal with Novell "meets the needs of customers, furthers interoperability [between Windows and Linux] and advances the interests of the industry as a whole." However, the latest draft of GPLv3 includes language that could make similar agreements legally impossible.
The director of technology at a metals manufacturing company based in the Midwest said he approves of the partnership between Microsoft and Novell "because like it or not, it gives Novell more viability." The metals company runs Suse Linux on about 125 servers, according to the technology director, who asked not to be identified.
He said he isn't concerned at all about Microsoft's patent infringement claims. "At this point, it seems like they're staring some people down and seeing if they flinch," he said.
Power Behind Open Source
Bill Hilf, Microsoft's point person on open source initiatives, told the IDG News Service that the vendor has no plans to start suing companies for patent infringement -- a comment that matched the company's assertion earlier in the week that it prefers licensing to litigating.
"I'm trying to be as clear as I can to people that this isn't a threat," Hilf said. "We're not going out and attacking people. We're trying to solve an [intellectual property] issue."
Despite those soothing words, Harry Roberts, CIO at Boscov's Department Stores in Reading, Pa., said via e-mail that he is still evaluating Microsoft's position. "It is an interesting about-face, just when everyone thought that Microsoft was finally accepting the reality that Linux is here to stay and that open source has found an expanding following," he added.
Broward County Public Schools in Florida uses a wide range of Microsoft and open source applications Get the facts on wireless solutions suited to your industry. to support its 270,000 students and staff members. "In the long run, I think that open source will prevail," said Vijay Sonty, the Sunrise, Fla.-based school district's CIO. Microsoft may be "the big gorilla" right now, he added, "but there's too much power behind open source."
Computerworld | 06/06/07
Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft claims that open source Open Source Hosting Solutions with 24x7x365 Support – Visit HostMySite.com Latest News about open source technologies infringe on 235 of its patents irked some IT managers last month, while others said they viewed the patent offensive as nothing more than a standard corporate business tactic.
However, none of the half-dozen IT executives who were interviewed about Microsoft's infringement assertions plan to change their open source adoption strategies -- at least, not unless and until there's a good reason for them to do so.
Among the users in the irked camp was Darryl Lemecha, CIO at data aggregator ChoicePoint. The patent claims sounded like "more saber-rattling on Microsoft's part," Lemecha said via e-mail.
Creating Uncertainty
"To throw out broad statements to the marketplace doesn't help anyone," he wrote. "It creates uncertainty for the open source community and causes animosity toward Microsoft. No one wins."
ChoicePoint isn't a major user of open source technology, but it runs Linux servers as well as Unix, Windows and mainframe systems. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company respects Microsoft's desire to defend its intellectual property, Lemecha said. However, he added, the software vendor's claims weren't specific enough to be worrisome at this point. "Nor have they been clear on their planned actions," Lemecha said. "We will not change our plans, but we will watch where this goes."
Joe Lindsay, CIO at Secured Funding in Costa Mesa, Calif., said Microsoft's maneuvering may scare some users away from Linux and other open source software in the short term. "It's like saying, 'I have a big baseball bat, and I'm going to hit somebody,'" Lindsay said. "Everyone runs away."
However, he predicted that in the long run, Microsoft will suffer the most damage, because it should be focusing more on developing innovative products than on threatening other vendors that have outsmarted it. "Their business model is fundamentally changing, and Microsoft is using [the specter of] the courthouse to extend their old way of doing business," Lindsay said.
'Just Business'
On the other hand, Beach Clark Jr., vice president of IT at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, described Microsoft's patent tactic as "just business." The software vendor has a right to protect its patents against infringement, Clark said, although he added that comments implying that Microsoft would like open source users to pay it royalties weren't "a good PR move."
Microsoft executives first fired the shot across the open source community's bow in a story published by Fortune magazine last month. In a statement Microsoft issued confirming the patent claims, the company said it was speaking out because of concerns that Version 3 of the GNU General Public License "attempts to tear down the bridge between proprietary and open source technology that Microsoft has worked to build with the industry and customers."
Microsoft wants to sign more deals with open source software vendors like the one it announced last November with Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell, which agreed to pay Microsoft a share of the revenue from sales of its Suse Linux operating system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server.. The two companies also promised not to sue each other's customers for patent infringement.
Staring People Down?
Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft's vice president of intellectual property and licensing, said last week that the deal with Novell "meets the needs of customers, furthers interoperability [between Windows and Linux] and advances the interests of the industry as a whole." However, the latest draft of GPLv3 includes language that could make similar agreements legally impossible.
The director of technology at a metals manufacturing company based in the Midwest said he approves of the partnership between Microsoft and Novell "because like it or not, it gives Novell more viability." The metals company runs Suse Linux on about 125 servers, according to the technology director, who asked not to be identified.
He said he isn't concerned at all about Microsoft's patent infringement claims. "At this point, it seems like they're staring some people down and seeing if they flinch," he said.
Power Behind Open Source
Bill Hilf, Microsoft's point person on open source initiatives, told the IDG News Service that the vendor has no plans to start suing companies for patent infringement -- a comment that matched the company's assertion earlier in the week that it prefers licensing to litigating.
"I'm trying to be as clear as I can to people that this isn't a threat," Hilf said. "We're not going out and attacking people. We're trying to solve an [intellectual property] issue."
Despite those soothing words, Harry Roberts, CIO at Boscov's Department Stores in Reading, Pa., said via e-mail that he is still evaluating Microsoft's position. "It is an interesting about-face, just when everyone thought that Microsoft was finally accepting the reality that Linux is here to stay and that open source has found an expanding following," he added.
Broward County Public Schools in Florida uses a wide range of Microsoft and open source applications Get the facts on wireless solutions suited to your industry. to support its 270,000 students and staff members. "In the long run, I think that open source will prevail," said Vijay Sonty, the Sunrise, Fla.-based school district's CIO. Microsoft may be "the big gorilla" right now, he added, "but there's too much power behind open source."
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