[odf-discuss] Linspire's MOOX initiatives

[Daniel Carrera]

Christian Einfeldt wrote:
> Marbux will correct me here, if I am wrong, but IMHO, there is 
> absolutely no legal precedent that is established via these 
> Novell-Linspire-Xandros-Microsoft deals... Now Daniel might
> have been using the word "precedent" in the sense of 
> monkey-see-monkey-do.

Yes, that's what I meant. I was using it in the regular lay-person 
meaning of the word and not in the Common Law Legal Precedent sense. 
More specifically, in the sense that many people might be convinced that 
"the Linux community has admitted guilt".

> The concern is that non-settling companies might 
> feel that they are exposed to fighting a legal battle with Microsoft 
> alone, and it is true, of course, that such psychological pressure could 
> be brought to bear on the investors and execs of such non-settling 
> companies.  However, Red Hat and Canonical have certainly said that they 
> would, under no circumstances, agree to a Novell-Linspire-Xandros type 
> deal, and so IMHO, the monkey-see-monkey-do precedent will be blunted 
> there.

I think that those announcements are attempts to counter the 
psychological precedent that MS is trying to create.

> But I do acknowledge that these deals seem repugnant, and the gut 
> impulse is to turn one's head away from these deals with the same type 
> of disdain that one feels for a tragic automobile collision.  But IMHO, 
> if you look deeper, there is a possibility that there is some good news 
> in these deals.
> 
> For example, consider my Republican father's impression of these deals.  
> He said, "oh, Linux must really be making progress if Microsoft has to 
> make deals to work with Linux.  Customers must really be demanding 
> Linux, or Microsoft wouldn't be agreeing to these deals."

Hmmm... neat. Thanks.

Cheers,
Daniel.