Linux association believes Ballmer's comments about Linux are just marketing for
The Linux Association believes that the latest comments about the patent agreement between Microsoft and Novell are part of a marketing campaign for Vista. Microsoft head Steve Ballmer recently claimed that the open operating system uses "Microsoft's patented intellectual property," thus posing a "problem for our shareholders." But Elmar Geese, executive director of the Linux Association, cannot understand why Microsoft has only now complained about the alleged breaches of patent in the Linux source code after having apparently tolerated them for so long. At the end of January, the new version of Windows will hit the stores.
"If Microsoft does not back up its claims, then the company is guilty of anti-competitive practices inadmissible in Germany - and intolerable. We call on Microsoft to provide proof of these claims or refrain from making them. Furthermore, we call on politicians to protect free competition in Europe," Geese writes in a press release. He adds that Linux users should not let Ballmer's comments worry them.
