Written by: Dan HinojosaMon, 20 Nov 2006 04:06 PM PST .
Filed Under: LinuxSun MicrosystemsCrimeMicrosoftJavaSteve Ballmer

I was listening to the November 17th Buzz Out Loud, a C-Net podcast, in which they reported some very disturbing news. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft is making a claim that all Linux distros uses our intellectual property. The deal is that if you use SuSe Linux, then you are off the hook for violating copyright. Think of this as a modern day indulgence from St. Redmond's Square.

Now, because of this news, I have to reflect on what a good job Sun did in deflecting Microsoft from violating Java's rules and regulations by not providing a constant cross platform VM. Hypothetically, if the Sun lawsuit had not been won, I can assure you that there would be an announcement from Ballmer condemning all non-Microsoft Java VM programmers of violating Microsoft’s copyright for any features from any Microsoft Java version that may have seeped into Sun's Java version.

Written by: Dan HinojosaSun, 4 Sep 2005 01:32 PM PDT .
Filed Under: GovernmentOfficePDFMicrosoftMassachusettsOpen-SourceJavaOpenOffice

MSNBC Article

SAN FRANCISCO - The state of Massachusetts has laid out a plan to switch all its workers away from Microsoft's Word, Excel and other desktop software applications, delivering what would be one of the most significant setbacks to the software company's battle against open source software in its home market.

The article continues to say that the Commonwealth using OpenDocument and PDF standards. With the new OpenOffice, I don't think that any of the state employees will be at a loss as far as functionality goes. If I were to make a statistic up, I would say that only two out ten people really know how to use their word processors and spreadsheets - I speak entirely out of personal observation. If that statistic is true, then most people will probably *not* notice any difference between OpenOffice and Microsoft Office except the difference in splashscreen names.

I'd be very interested to see what role, if any, java is going to play in the mix, especially in the enterprise arena. I would also be interested to see if this foray into open-source will be a domino effect with state, city, county, or even, dare I say, national government.

This open-source fever may also leak into the realms of the many contractors that rely on government business, thus spreading into private industry... Of course, this might make Microsoft think about pre-packaging Office, or at least a small subset of it, with all computers to ensure their Office dominance. How long will that take?