“…[T]hey’re unlikely to come after Linux distributors for the
well-known ‘mutually assured destruction’ reasons“Which is why they are going after Linux users,
most of whom have no patents of their own to retaliate with.
Besides the original Fortune article, check out this latest Ballmer
quote, where he carefully points out that ‘people that use Red
Hat,’ rather than Red Hat, owe Microsoft money. (Of course,
implicit in that is a threat against all Linux users who haven’t
bought immunity from Novell…)”