The man behind Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth has told myBroadband that he would not do a deal with Microsoft over patent licensing.
He said that Microsoft claims Linux violates its patents and wants people to pay for them without saying which ones.
He said that it was like someone waking into a shop and saying "it’s an unsafe neighborhood, why don’t you pay me 20 bucks and I’ll make sureyou’re okay,” that’s illegal. It’s racketeering.
He said he admired Microsoft but there was no way he would do a deal like Novell.
Shuttleworth said that a time will come when Microsoft who have a clear vision for the company as a participant in this community, rather than as a hostile antagonist.Then it will win and he would love to do a deal with it, Shuttleworth said.
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