Microsoft's new Linux gambit
C|Net | at | by Mike
Listen closely to what Microsoft is not saying about SCO Group's open-source operetta. Microsoft is not telling corporate managers that the use of open-source applications might land them in hot water with patent attorneys. And Microsoft is not saying that the open-source development community is a hotbed of misappropriation of private property. This is not because Microsoft disagrees with the above. But it's just so much easier to give the dirty work to SCO.
Ever since SCO filed a $1 billion lawsuit against IBM for allegedly misappropriating Unix technology that wound up in the Linux operating system, rumors have been rife about Microsoft secretly bankrolling the litigation. Oliver Stone has yet to uncover a connection, but conspiracy buffs who already see the hand of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates everywhere have since seized upon Microsoft's deal, announced last earlier this month, to license Unix technology from SCO.