I came across this very interesting piece of news on Reuters which says Red Hat CEO had at one point of time held talks with Microsoft regarding patents (infringement?). When queried Matthew Szulik refused to answer the question as to whether Red Hat is now in talks with Microsoft.
It is surprising to note that after all the hoopla and bonhomie evident in most Linux based news sites regarding Linux's (aparent) immunity to patent infringement claims, it is true that there is an under current of apprehensiveness amoung most Linux heavy weights such as Red Hat and the likes as to what strong arm tactics Microsoft has lined up for the Linux distributors who do not play ball with it.
Here is a quote from the article ...
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An update to that license, version 3, is about to be implemented. It will forbid companies from distributing Linux software if they enter into patent agreements like the ones that Microsoft signed with Novell.
The Free Software Foundation, which authored the General Public License and owns rights to much of the code at the heart of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, inserted that clause into the agreement in an effort to discourage other open-source software developers from signing patent deals with Microsoft.
The authors of that license (read FSF) have said they believe that such patent deals will help Microsoft back claims that its intellectual property is being violated by code in Linux and other open source software, eventually giving the company ammunition to seek billions of dollars in license fees from users of open-source software.
This is evidently the reason why FSF spearheaded by Richard M Stallman is too keen to release GPLv3 which has provisions to negate any foul play that the likes of Microsoft can bring about. And this is why in my opinion, Linux should also move to GPLv3 as soon as possible instead of sticking to just GPLv2. Not doing it would be suicidal...
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