>> I believe that they will try and "buy" Linus out. Linus has
>> stated that he doesn't believe them to be "evil", and that if the
>> job was right, and money was right, he'd consider a job with
>> them. (Boot magazine).
>>
>> Would this affect Linux? Definitely.
>>
>> One scenario I envisioned, was Microsoft hiring Linus, perhaps
>> you as well, and other core developers, and then hiring other
>> people to come up with "Microsoft Linux" distribution. As far as
>> I know, they are free to do just that. Then they'd try putting
>> RedHat, etc... out of business.
>
>A lot of the code in the distributed kernel is liscensed by the
>author of whatever component/driver you happen to be talking about.
>In short, they would in fact have to buy out quite a few of the
>core folks.
Not really. As long as they didn't try and violate GPL, Linus
could certainly work for them.
>BTW, wasn't there something special about the way Linus handles
>the liscense that prevented even Linus from selling himself like
>a bitch in this sort of situation? ("bitch" used here strictly to
>describe the act of becoming a microsoft prostitute, NOT to diss
>Linus)
No. The license prevents Linux from ever becoming proprietary,
or non-GPL. It does not prevent Linus from getting a job at
Microsoft, and/or working on Linux from such a job. Microsoft
could influence the development in that way, however I doubt
Linus would ever do anything to hurt the movement he has started.
Even if the $$$ was there...
>> They certainly wont get a dime from me though, and I'll never
>> have any Microsoft Linux software installed - free or otherwise.
>
>> Really, I believe their interest in Linux is inevitable though.
>
>Agreed. Let's not think about it for the moment. Maybe those
>big vendors like Sybase/Informix/Oracle/Netscape etc would
>back the Linux community in such a situation? It would be in
>their interest... I mean, if they're serious about Linux.
They likely would.
><=========== America Held Hostage ===========>
> Day 2090 for the poor and the middle class.
> Day 2109 for the rich and the dead.
> 832 days remaining in the Raw Deal.
What is this all about? I've seen it for quite a while now.
What is "The raw deal"? What is with all those days? Do you
listen to Art Bell?
Take care,
TTYL
-- Mike A. Harris - Computer Consultant - Linux advocateLinux software galore: http://freshmeat.net
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