[Cialug] So who didn't see this one coming?

[Nathan C. Smith]

Way to go!  Keep the pressure on.  Just don't get caught talking to
Microsoft.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthew Nuzum [mailto:matthew.nuzum at canonical.com] 
> Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 2:14 PM
> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] So who didn't see this one coming?
> 
> 
> Brandon Griffis wrote:
> > By taking this cash they're arguably admiting that their customers 
> > need "protection" from IP suits from Microsoft.  This translates to 
> > being aware of IP infringements.  As a Linux distributor 
> SuSE is bound 
> > by the GPL.  If they know of IP infringing software in the 
> system and 
> > haven't moved to report/change it they are in violation of 
> section 7 
> > of the GPL and are not permited to redistribute Linux.  Any 
> way this 
> > goes it ends bad for Novell/SuSE.
> 
> >> > > would be relatively easy to attack some of the key 
> applications 
> >> > > that make running linux worthwhile.
> >> >
> >> > My thought is that, as someone else said, they're going after 
> >> > Samba, or that they're going after OpenOffice.
> 
> We're seeing a sudden influx of open suse users join the 
> Ubuntu community because they feel they've been betrayed.
> 
> Also, and maybe I'm wrong, I read the press announcements as 
> saying that people who contribute code that is used in suse 
> are safe. This would include Samba or OOo, wouldn't it?
> 
> I still subscribe to the theory that this move is designed to 
> undermine the Linux community and take some steam out of it's 
> growth, which is getting significant enough to be an 
> annoyance to Microsoft...
> 
> I'm actually in San Francisco at the annual staff meeting for 
> Canonical now, and it is truly amazing to see how fast we're 
> growing, especially in Asia, Africa and South America. All 
> over the place we're going against Microsoft and winning 
> 30,000 - 40,000 desktops at a time - surprisingly even in 
> schools, where licensing costs are not nearly as critical of 
> a factor (because Microsoft is 80%+ discounted there).
> 
> We're definitely starting to annoy Microsoft. They've got to 
> do something to stymie the exodus, especially in the minds of 
> the youth (aka schools).
> -- 
> Matthew Nuzum
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