Torvalss tells ms...

[smoker]

haven't noticed this posted,

Torvalds tells Microsoft to put up or shut up
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/2189971/torvalds-tells-microsoft-put

Torvalds added that Microsoft might have patent problems of its own if the company was to expose its software to public scrutiny in the same way as Linux.

[Tundro Walker]

I agree with that. It's easy to rake others over the coals when you're not willing to show them your source code for comparison.

Come on. In the past years, MS hasn't really "invented" anything...they've either bought up companies that have created something interesting, or they've swiped free code and tweaked it just enough to **** on it and claim it as their own.

Seriously, if they could, they'd reverse engineer how God made the universe in 7 days, then file a patent for the process.

They need to either start taking folks to court, and have a judge order them to open their source code for scrutiny on the accusations, or go jump off a cliff somewhere.

[Tundro Walker]

Another thing that bothers me about this, is that Linus created Linux in the early 90's based on a Unix frame-work. Microsoft has always had its frame-work around its MSDOS / Windows stuff.

How is a *nix frame-work infringing on their OS? Eventually, through natural evolution, great minds will think alike, and two different things can take on the same apperance. But, that doesn't mean it's infringement.

If they actually come to light with this crap, we'll probably find it's stupid things like "We created Windows Media Player a long time ago, and have a patent for it, thus all other Media Player applications infringe on our idea."

I'm really livid about this, because it's like that dorky kid on the school playground who gets picked on a lot by others. So, he gets this bruised ego and tries to fuel his megalomania by picking on other kids just minding their own business. And, he does so by blackmailing them, saying he has naked photos of you with a goat. You know it's not true, but you also know he's pretty good with Photoshop, so you're not sure if he's doctored something up or not. You just want to smack him, but mostly you just want him to mind his own business and leave you alone.

Personally, if I was Linus, I'd sue Microsoft for defamation of character. They're basically claiming Linus is a hack rip-off artist stealing MS ideas. Well, if MS won't come forth with the evidence, then what they say is damaging to Linus and Linux, and as such should be grounds for a lawsuit. This really needs to turn into a legal fight, and if MS won't start it, I think Linus should.