Microsoft's war on open source goes mainstream

Microsoft is ramping up its fight against open-source software -- including the Linux operating system and other free applications -- with threats to sue over what the software giant says are over 200 violations of Microsoft patents.

The reason the story gained so much traction over the weekend was this Fortune article posted Monday on CNN Money.

The conflict pits Microsoft and its dogged CEO, Steve Ballmer, against the "free world" -- people who believe software is pure knowledge. The leader of that faction is Richard Matthew Stallman, a computer visionary with the look and the intransigence of an Old Testament prophet.

Caught in the middle are big corporate Linux users like Wal-Mart, AIG and Goldman Sachs. Free-worlders say that if Microsoft prevails, the whole quirky ecosystem that produced Linux and other free and open-source software (FOSS) will be undermined.

Microsoft counters that it is a matter of principle. "We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property," says Ballmer in an interview. FOSS patrons are going to have to "play by the same rules as the rest of the business," he insists. "What's fair is fair."

Here is how Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel, sees it:

... he does break down the total number allegedly violated -- 235 -- into categories. He says that the Linux kernel -- the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware -- violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces -- essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up -- run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68.

The story isn't all Microsoft. There's a lot of information about Stallman, who created the GNU Manifesto and the software movement around it (GNU meaning "GNU's not UNIX").

The Fortune story covers the history -- and current state -- of Microsoft's negotiations and deals (or no deal) with Linux end-users, as well as Red Hat and Novell (who together control the commercial Linux server market) , and it tries to explain why MS made a deal with Novell that results in the Redmond giant paying the much-smaller Linux packager, instead of the other way around.

There's a lot of commentary and reportage out there on this issue (thanks to Lxer for most of these links):

The Fortune article: Microsoft takes on the free world

Linux-Watch: Microsoft reignites its war on Linux

eWeek: Microsoft Claims Open-Source Technology Violates 235 of Its Patents

O'ReillyNet: Looks like Microsoft is ramping up for Son of SCO

Linux Journal: Meeting Microsoft's Patent Threat

Tux500 blog: Intentions Clarified - Battle Lines Drawn

itWire: Microsoft to sue Sun over OpenOffice.org?

CNET: Report: Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents

Microsoft-Watch: Microsoft's Open Letter to Open Source