patent – Just another Linux geek

22 March, 201122 March, 2011Tech

Microsoft “licenses its patents” to Android manufacturers, sues if they don’t agree

There’s never been any evidence that Microsoft goes after Linux based products, right? Hog wash. Well, now it’s just Tom Tom all over again. So, we know that Microsoft has […]

13 August, 201013 August, 2010FOSS

Google should just BUY Oracle

Stupid Oracle. They’ve just gone and sued Google over their use of Java. An Oracle spokesperson said in a statement: In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly, and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s […]

9 March, 2010Tech

I-O Data pays Microsoft to use Linux

Another day, another Microsoft cross-patent licensing agreement for companies who use Linux. Japan-based I-O Data Device Inc. has agreed to cough up an undisclosed sum to the software giant for […]

4 February, 20104 February, 2010FOSS, Tech

Do you use H.264 or MPEG? You need a license.

Recently it was confirmed by the MPEG LA that a license is needed for any use of H.264 and that everyone on the chain is liable. Free software projects are […]

1 February, 20101 February, 2010FOSS, Tech

MPEG LA confirms H.264 license needed for free software and end users

Currently, there is no default video format for use with the HTML5 video tag. The patent and royalty free Theora format was planned to be the default, but this was […]

25 November, 200925 November, 2009FOSS, Tech

Xandros selling Microsoft patent protection direct

Back in 2007 Xandros struck a patent deal with Microsoft, while in June this year they said they were: “kind of getting away from being a Linux company.” I never […]

16 November, 200916 November, 2009FOSS

openSUSE 11.2 – Mono with Windows.Forms by default, in GNOME

I was pleased to see (although not too surprised) that the KDE desktop in openSUSE 11.2 does not ship Mono by default. With GNOME, however it’s a different story. The […]

16 October, 200916 October, 2009FOSS

Jeremy Allison on Mono (and how it differs from Samba)

Jeremy Allison has spoken up about Mono, Novell’s implementation of Microsoft’s heavily patented .NET platform. He recommends that it be put into “restricted” repositories until the licensing issues can be […]

20 July, 200920 July, 2009FOSS

FSF response to Microsoft’s “Promise”

The Free Software Foundation has

11 March, 200911 March, 2009FOSS, Tech

It’s time to beat the tom-toms

If you’ve been following the news of late, you’ll be aware that Microsoft is suing Tom Tom (maker of GPS devices which ship with Linux) over claimed patent infringements, which […]