Patent suit tells us why we should shun Mono, Moonlight

[ Thanks to Sam Varghese for this link. ]

""There is a patent covenant for anyone that downloads [Moonlight] from Novell," he answered and was then forced to admit that "as to extending the patents to third parties - you have to talk to Microsoft."

"That's exactly what Microsoft was saying to TomTom before it sued the GPS maker on Wednesday - talk to us and sign a licensing deal. Is that what FOSS users want to do - pay royalties for using software?

"It is important to note that a week or so back, Microsoft was inking a virtualisation deal with Red Hat; in recent times, the company has made much of what it terms its willingness to deal with open source, to the extent of sending its people to free software events.

"But the reality is different - lawsuits and the proprietary software business model are part of Microsoft's DNA and it cannot change."

Complete Story

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