>There is nothing in the article that says Microsoft won't discuss the issues with Linux distributors.

If MS won't detail their allegations then the issues simply cannot be meaningfully discussed.

>I suspect that the patents were specified to Novell as part of their cross-licensing agreement.

Do you have even one shred of evidence to back this assertion? My own suspicion is that they reached a blanket agreement not to prosecute each other, without any specifics. IOW to prevent the "patent Armageddon" as discussed in the article.

>>Excerpted from CNN: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm
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>>"At the same time, Smith was having Microsoft's lawyers figure out how many of its patents were being infringed by free and open-source software. Gutierrez refuses to identify specific patents or explain how they're being infringed, lest FOSS advocates start filing challenges to them.
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>>But he does break down the total number allegedly violated - 235 - into categories. He says that the Linux kernel - the deepest layer of the free operating system, which interacts most directly with the computer hardware - violates 42 Microsoft patents. The Linux graphical user interfaces - essentially, the way design elements like menus and toolbars are set up - run afoul of another 65, he claims. The Open Office suite of programs, which is analogous to Microsoft Office, infringes 45 more. E-mail programs infringe 15, while other assorted FOSS programs allegedly transgress 68."
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>>I'm disappointed by Microsoft's position on this. Either:
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>>- some or all of these alleged violations are false, in which case MS is spreading FUD, or
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>>- by failing to detail the specifics of these "violations" MS is being a patent troll
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>>The article discusses "patent Armageddon". MS needs to be very careful in this arena as they have much to lose in the event that some part of Windows or Office is found to infringe on a non-MS patent.