. . . there's a shadow hanging over Linux and other free software, and it's being cast by Microsoft. The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft's patents. And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends and fearsome competitors like Google, Microsoft is pulling no punches: It wants royalties. If the company gets its way, free software won't be free anymore.
We need to stop software patents (and Microsoft). Now. Any ideas?
Read the full article on Forbes.
The Microsoft wants to destroy free software. article by Aral Balkan, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 UK: England License.
I’d opt for a digital version of a nonviolent revolution. They can never stop everyone from using free software. But they’ll go after the figure heads first I suppose… How can they be protected other than by more lawyers I wonder.
What is the world coming to? Yesterday I read that even the Salvation Army has been suing Greenpeace over an inheritance, because Greenpeace had changed its name to Greenpeace Fund, which was not similar to the name in the will! :S
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-charityfight14may14,0,604026.story?coll=la-home-nation
MS are key sponsors of “Voices For Innovation” aimed at MS customers and designed to put a positive spin on software patents and enlist people to lobby on their behalf.
In Europe a counter organisation is “Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure” a key principle of which is:
“We believe that innovation comes from competition in an open and fair market, backed by an appropriate ownership model. In the software industry, this means access to a full and open market (not restricted by monopolistic practices), to a robust copyright regime (not undermined by software patents), and to fully open (not licensed) standards backed by independent bodies.”
I blogged briefly on the subject a while ago. Some links:
http://creacog.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/voices-for-innovation-oh-dear/
http://www.voicesforinnovation.org/
http://ffii.org/
I think there is a point beyond which strenuous, vigorous opposition becomes the only course of action. If Microsoft plans to follow this course of action - in spite of its usual practice of purloining technology from everywhere, and everybody. Then we all need to fight tooth, claw and nail to maintain the current status quo. It also demonstrates the fear MS has of its edifice crumbling under the assault of innovation and change.
A lot of the “revolution” rhetoric sounds nice, but ultimately I think more practical solutions need to be adopted.
It would probably be helpful for developers and internet enthusiasts to contact their local politico’s and educate them on the situation. If local politicians can be convinced that their area is losing tax revenue due to patent laws, it could work as incentive to support measures changing the law. Patent laws are working to shift tax dollars from small developers around the world to large technology companies in the valley and Seattle, and this needs to be made clear to politicians whose interest it is to keep those tax dollars in their own regions.
Software patents last for way too long. I think it’s 20 years in the US, which is many lifetimes in the technology industry. A reduction to a more reasonable number like 10 years would work to limit the damage caused by software patents. Amazon’s one click patent, for instance, would be in it’s twilight years, which is a result I think everyone could support.
It also doesn’t hurt to donate money to organizations like the EFF.
The only reason MS is even paying attention to Linux is that its finally experiencing some real growth thanks to user friendly distros like Ubuntu and Sabayon (who’s dynamic desktop environment makes Vista a big yawn). Now we are seeing major hardware players like Dell putting it on their machines for sale, and I’m sure MS hates to see this as that has to be one of their biggest hooks. Casual computer users may now see that there is another option besides Windows and Mac. Unfortunately, the more popular Linux gets, the more it will be Microsoft’s target. I think what we are seeing now is only a warmup if current trends continue, and having recently switched to Ubuntu at work, I speculate that they will.
The book “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” details how when the Empire was finally going down, it was 1) The richest and most bloated and corrupted empire in the world 2) In complete denial as to it’s own weaknesses and vulnerabilities 3) Making war on everything and everyone around them in a desperate attempt to maintain its monopoly on power and control…
hmm…sounds like a couple of institutions I know. M$ doesn’t understand OSS because it’s built on a foundation completely opposite that of M$, namely unselfish service for the good of others. Whether OSS developers realize it as that or not, that’s really what it is. M$ is built solely on the premise of promoting its own interests for itself and only itself. This is a minor skirmish in the battle of narrow and foolish self-pursuit vs. altruistic and other-oriented service. I know who will win in the end…it’s only a matter of how it plays out.
Hey kramerica, I really liked Sabayon Linux, I’m surprised I have never heard of it before, it seems to be a very well made piece of software!
The more I live, the more I see I don’t need Windows and M$… and yes, software is knowledge, and knowledge should be open to everyone.
It’s easy to forget that many of the contributors to OSS have day jobs, which pay for them to live, and pay for them to have training, and give them all the experience and knowledge they need to build OSS. These day jobs are at software companies like microsoft, and they’re able to pay their staff because they can get a return on the investment in those staff, via copyright and software patents.
If we remove those protections on investments then the coders that can’t become consultants (there’s plenty of them) will have to get proper jobs. The only software being written will come out of institutions like universities, a lot of good things have come out of unis, but the best ones have been steered by commercial forces. And even that will dry up because everyone will be studying other crafts because you can’t earn a living in software.
Free market economy in the physical world is simple, the only rule you really need is no stealing and we all know what that means, in the digital world it’s not so easy to define. Maybe microsoft are being a little silly, but I can understand where they’re coming from.
I’m quite shocked with MS’ actions. What are they really up to??? As far as i know they have around 95% of the market followed by Apple with 3%. That means there are 2% left for other systems including linux.
They keep 95% of pc users in believe that they have the best system and apps possible. Well, when I was testing Vista I couldn’t help feeling “why on earth did they copy OSX and linux!?” Because they did. Some little detail here another there. But that is of course fine. Because they take from what is free and patent-free - open source. And it is of course difficult to prove since MS’ code is not open. They are using the circumstances for their own good. Why can MS come up with something on there own for once instead of patenting others’ inventions?
Monopoly is never good and I’m really happy to live in Europe (see what creacog wrote if you wonder why
).
I switched to Ubuntu Feisty when it came and I’m very satisfied. I wouldn’t mind paying for that system it is so good. A good job should be paid for.