| No Microsoft patent deal for Ubuntu |
Jun. 16, 2007
In a recent column, I speculated that Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical Ltd., the company behind Ubuntu, might make Ubuntu the next Linux distribution to make a deal with Microsoft.
Now, Mark Shuttleworth, in his latest blog post, denies that possibility, writing, "We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent infringements."
Shuttleworth also states that this speculation in the media has been thoroughly and elegantly debunked in the blogosphere -- but not before the damage was done. The blog he referred to details how the quote I used comes from an interview with Shuttleworth in which Shuttleworth makes it extremely clear that he won't entertain any kind of patent deal with Microsoft.
The matter has also been hotly spoken about in some of the Ubuntu mailing lists.
Unfortunately, no one seems to have actually read my column. I never said that Ubuntu might be making a patent deal with Microsoft. I said, it "would as easy as falling off a log for Canonical to add some Microsoft features of its own to Ubuntu Linux distribution."
I was talking about the features like those added by Linspire in its deal. These included: VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) compatibility over Microsoft IM (instant message) compatible clients; Microsoft audio and video codec support; and TrueType fonts. I'll also speculate that, like the Novell, Xandros, and Linspire deals, a Ubuntu deal might also include work on technical interoperability between Linux and Windows.
I'll also add that none of the Linux companies that have made any kind of patent agreements with Microsoft, have agreed with Microsoft's bogus position that Linux violates any of Microsoft's patents.
It's Microsoft, not the Linux companies, that mumbles underneath its breath that these deals somehow prove in some obscure way that they need patent protection from Microsoft. The Linux companies that have partnered with Microsoft categorically deny this.
Let's get back to Ubuntu. With all these attacks on the strawman argument that I'm somehow suggesting that Ubuntu will make a patent deal with Microsoft, I can't help but notice that Shuttleworth didn't rule out working with Microsoft.
I quote, "I have no objections to working with Microsoft in ways that further the cause of free software, and I don't rule out any collaboration with them, in the event that they adopt a position of constructive engagement with the free software community."
May I suggest that working on interoperability between Windows and Linux and making it possible for Ubuntu users to use some Microsoft multimedia files, formats, and fonts might count as being constructive for Linux users. After all, Novell, Xandros, and Linspire seem to think so. So, I might add, is anyone who uses programs like Automatix2 to add Microsoft multimedia codec support to their copies of Ubuntu.
I'll close by noting that in his blog Shuttleworth wrote, "I don't believe that the intent of the current round of agreements is supportive of free software." He also said, "It's not useful to characterize any company as 'intrinsically evil for all time.'"
In short, I still think we can expect to see a Microsoft/Ubuntu deal sometime this year.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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