Linux Foundation Prepares For Microsoft’s Legal Action

The Linux Foundation is prepared to defend any Linux user charged with violating Microsoft’s patents, but Executive Director Jim Zemlin adds that a critical review of Windows code would show that it can be claimed to violate other vendors’ patents as well.”If you use Windows, Solaris, [IBM's] AIX or any similar operating system, you have the same patent infringement risk as using Linux. Microsoft should be careful of what it starts because it doesn’t know where it will end,” said Zemlin in an interview. Zemlin heads the organization that resulted when the Open Source Development Labs merged with the Free Standards Group in January. Both groups aided targets of the SCO Group, when it filed suit against Linux users AutoZone.com and Daimler Chrysler. SCO later dropped the AutoZone.com suit.

“Who are they going to sue? Companies will not continue to do business with suppliers who sue them,” said Zemlin.

Microsoft carefully avoided threatening to sue any Linux users while nevertheless maintaining in a Fortune article today that 235 of its patents are violated by various forms of open source code. Sun’s Open Office suite allegedly violated 45 of Microsoft patents, while the Linux kernel allegedly violates 42 patents. Linux graphical user interfaces violated another 65, Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith and chief of licensing Horacio Gutierrez stated in the Fortune story.

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