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Linux Foundation to meet about legal issues
The Linux Foundation has announced that they will be hosting two summits. The two meetings will focus on Linux, and what part it plays in modern business environments in a legal role. That is, whether or not a company can be legally hurt by choosing to use Linux and what companies can do about it. The first of these meetings is invite-only, the second will be much more open. Afterwards they intend to do this on a yearly basis, likely due to increased pressure from companies like Microsoft.
Scare tactics work. Microsoft knows this, and it's one of the big reasons they have no qualms about telling people they can get sued into oblivion if they decide to use Linux. That has likely played a part in the various ”Microsoft Deals” that several companies have latched onto. These summits are an attempt to curb that, and help people (vendors included) to feel better about their software choices, particularly in the legal arena:
These conferences will provide the only vendor-neutral forums in which leading attorneys from open source companies and the community can collaborate to understand and solve legal issues surrounding Linux and open source software.
This is definitely a good thing. No software should be put into the dirt simply because a larger vendor “threatens” its users with legal action.
Scare tactics work. Microsoft knows this, and it's one of the big reasons they have no qualms about telling people they can get sued into oblivion if they decide to use Linux. That has likely played a part in the various ”Microsoft Deals” that several companies have latched onto. These summits are an attempt to curb that, and help people (vendors included) to feel better about their software choices, particularly in the legal arena:
These conferences will provide the only vendor-neutral forums in which leading attorneys from open source companies and the community can collaborate to understand and solve legal issues surrounding Linux and open source software.
This is definitely a good thing. No software should be put into the dirt simply because a larger vendor “threatens” its users with legal action.
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User Comments (2)
Post a comment| kitty500cat on September 12, 2007 5:36 PM | And precisely how could somebody get sued for using Linux?
I don't blindly bash Microsoft and I don't appreciate it when people do, but I have to say shame on them for scaring people like this.
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| angelina on September 14, 2007 12:34 AM | The ISO approval process for OOXML has been plagued by allegations of misconduct. Critics accuse Microsoft of encouraging its business partners to become members of various national standards bodies in order to push through votes for approving OOXML. For instance, more than 20 new companies joined the Swedish Standards Institute immediately prior to the organization's vote on OOXML earlier this week. According to Swedish news publication The Local, Microsoft has admitted to sending e-mails to partner companies telling them that they were "expected" to vote in favor of approving OOXML, and that they would receive "market assistance" and "extra support in the form of Microsoft resources" for doing so.
-by "volvo muffler smokes wild..."
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