"The question that many Linux supporters are now asking is this:
is this good news for Linux, or bad? Here are my thoughts on that
important question.
"As always, the following thoughts are mine alone, and not those
of the Linux Foundation (disclosure: LF is a client of mine) or of
any other client.
"First, why the angst over the question at all? Microsoft has
repeatedly stated (including in a terse press release it released
yesterday) that it wishes to settle with TomTom by entering into a
license agreement. Yesterday's release included the following quote
from Horatio Gutierrez, Microsoft's recently appointed corporate
vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property
and Licensing:
"We are reviewing TomTom's filing, which we have just received.
As has been the case for more than a year, we remain committed to a
licensing solution, although we will continue to press ahead with
the complaints we initiated in the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Washington and the International Trade
Commission."