Mr. Ballmer, Show Us the Code 462
DigDuality writes "A new campaign, Showusthecode.com, requests every leader in the Linux world, and companies invested in Linux, to stand up and demand that Steve Ballmer show the world where Linux violates Microsoft's intellectual property. He has been making these claims since the Novell-Microsoft deal. If Microsoft answers this challenge — by May 1st — then Linux developers will be able to modify the code so that it remains 'free' software. If such infringing code doesn't exist, we will have called Microsoft's bluff. And if the campaign garners enough attention and if Steve Ballmer maintains silence, then the community and companies behind Linux can take the silence for the admission that it is."
Good idea, bad implentation (?) (Score:2, Interesting)
Why do they even need the code? (Score:3, Interesting)
Give us all a break (Score:5, Interesting)
As a consumer I want the honest truth and I think it is wrong that any company is allowed to pursue the use of consumer deception.
Any such company using consumer deception should be exposed and punished.
Microsoft has been busted enough with antitrust that it should be required to show such evidence it claims, or fined to the benefit of the consumers and the developers it's claim is against.
Dishonesty should cost the party commiting it, not benefit them.
Good idea bad implementation... (Score:5, Interesting)
Ideas people?
Re:Of course he's not going to show you the code (Score:1, Interesting)
If you state publicly that you aware of an infringement and make no effort to pursue the matter within a certain time frame, do you lose any rights to pursue it later? At the very least, it seems strange given that you have taken the time to make an intellectual property claim to protect yourself against competition and/or claim licensing fees, and then fail to do so. This seems to make a statement that you either don't care that your competition is using your IP or that your IP has no value.
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:1, Interesting)
At least the guys in at the little web site are not loaded with bull shit.
I would bet Ballmer there is more open source in Windows (any version) than Linux. That is why for EVERY protocol we have today on the internet, all can from guess what? NOT Microsoft. Open source, academics and far bigger thinkers than exist in Redmond.
If someone doesn't believe this, go back to NETBIOS or LANMAN. Ever try to port a Windows app to any other platform? It is hell. Easier to go Linux to Windblows.
Opening flawed source code is Microsoft's arc-killies (SP) heel.
They're REQUIRED to... (Score:3, Interesting)
about infringement without proof is a Lanham Act violation, as SCOX is about to find out.
Has ShowUsTheCode.com followed any legal process? (Score:1, Interesting)
Wouldn't it be better to file suit against Microsoft and force them to either make their IP claims, or else STFU?
Doesnt IBM hold patents over Microsoft... (Score:2, Interesting)
Did it ever occur to you... (Score:1, Interesting)
Okay, you're right...it's genuine.
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:4, Interesting)
I work on the evolution of languages (shameless plug [auckland.ac.nz]), and I know that it's quite possible to get the same words meaning the same thing, just due to change. For example "mata" means "eye" in both Greek and Maori, but there's just no chance that these languages are related anytime within the last, say, 20 thousand years, and this is just an outcome of plain old chance.
My question - how likely and to what degree is this sort of convergent evolution of code between two separate programs? Keeping in mind that there's a whole lot of functional constraints, i.e. both operating systems have to manage RAM somehow, or both have to manipulate graphics in some way, there are common good coding practices, there are common language idioms, etc.
So - how easy would it be, for Ballmer to find a chance similarity between linux and vista, and how would you distinguish between this and real similarity? (homoplasy vs. homology for you evolutionary biologists out there).
Re:Chairs were just the beginning (Score:3, Interesting)
Ok, remember the knock knock bannana orange joke ?
This joke works on the same idea.
Had I joked about a chair, it would've been redundant.
However, I only refered to the chair as a premise in the title.
The meat & potatoes which is the actual comment takes the joke a step ahead, therefore it can not be redundant.
Naive. Only a lawsuit will fix this. (Score:4, Interesting)
But here's the deal: this is not about truth or logic. It's about uncertainty. As long as Microsoft says nothing, people will be uncertain whether he's bluffing. And as long as people are uncertain, they will behave like roaches and run towards any furniture that might offer some protection.
That's all he has to do. Be quiet. And he wins as long as he stays quiet. Nothing will happen in May, no matter how much you wish for it or how many companies and people come forward to ask the question. By the way, I think the only hope is for someone in the mainstream media to catch Steve Ballmer stuttering when asked to disclose the patents in national television channel. And we know how likely that is!
Of course this will eventually desensitize the victims, unless Microsoft actually sues somebody. But Steve and his gang know that they just need to slow down the loss of customers to Linux for a while longer, while Microsoft entrenches itself more and more. Just a while longer...
Sorry for sounding so negative about this initiative. It's DOA. Nothing short of a lawsuit will bring this matter to light. If Microsoft does the stupid thing of actually threatening someone or some company (not the unspecified, general threats so far), that victim can preemptively sue to force their hand. It will provide some entertainment after SCO vs IBM is closed.
Re:Of course he's not going to show you the code (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Good Odds. (Score:2, Interesting)
That's both factually wrong and logically wrong. The fact that MS was vulnerable to suit by Actel/Lucent despite doing everything legally and by the book (and respecting the IP in question) should make companies using Linux all the more worried. It shows that anyone can be sued for IP infringement, regardless of whether they actually did. Do you really think MS can't legally cover its ass (or hand someone else's to them) better than a large number of nobodies (not counting IBM and Novell)? That's almost amusingly arrogant (amusing in a "pride goeth before the fall" kind of way). Seeing how abusable the patent system is should make you afraid; very afraid.
Re:These guys have totally lost the plot (Score:3, Interesting)
The website does mentioned patent (Score:3, Interesting)
BTW, I find it indeed ironical that they did ask Ballmer, who had admitted banning his kids from using Google, to do a patent search on Google.
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's like selling guns to the side you like in a civil wary: it keeps the warring nation weak and prevents their interference in your own plans.
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:3, Interesting)
You underestimate how much resentment the normal computer user has for Microsoft now. The support for the freedom fighters will not be loud but it will be massive.
The more interesting question is .... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:2, Interesting)
Software patients in general are a bad idea. Its absurd when you can patent every trivial concept under the sun.
Slander of Title? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting. Because it seems to me that any free market enthusiast worth his salt ought to be supporting Linux. Can't compete with zero price? Tough shit, that's just the way the market works. Can't write a better OS than a bunch of amateur enthusiasts? Well then you've got no business being in the market. Survival of the fittest, baby!
I think we may have been pitching this on the wrong level in certain quarters. Thank you for that.
This is all a PR strategy (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I like those odds..... (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft: "You stole our code, pay up"
Linux Fanboys: "Prove it or shut up and go sit in the corner"