French Linux distributor Mandriva has rejected any licencing deal with Microsoft to avoid possible patent infringement claims.

In the company blog, CEO Francois Bancilhon said it was not necessary for Mandriva to get protection from Microsoft to do our job, Several other Linux vendors, including Novell, Linspire and Xandros recently signed intellectual property and collaboration deals with Microsoft to protect them from potential patent claims.

Bancilhon was concerned that Mandriva might be next on the list. However he said that he was not a fan of software patents and up to now, there has been absolutely no hard evidence from any of the FUD propagators that Linux and open source applications are in breach of any patents.

More here.