02.06.08
Linus Torvalds Worried About “Externel Issues — Especially Patents…”
To justify the tireless work that we do here slamming software patents, watch what Linus Torvalds said in this interview that has just been published:
“One thing that has been worrisome over the last few years are … stupid external issues — especially patents and stuff like that. Those are the things that worry technical people. Probably because they feel like they — including me — can’t necessarily do a lot about them.
“When you don’t feel in control you start worrying,” said Torvalds.
You are strongly encouraged to follow the link and watch this one-minute video. It cannot be embedded outside ZDNet (believe me, I’ve tried hacking around it, without success unless iframes are used).
Questions that have already been answered such as “is Linux ready for the desktop?” or “does Linux contain stolen code?” are somewhat of a distraction. They are irrelevant as long as Microsoft is piling up patents and signing deals for royalties to be extracted from GNU/Linux. Novell is a major part of this problem. █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.