Torvalds Offers Linux Community Advice On Microsoft's Threats
Linus Torvalds normally eschews playing the lawyer and giving out legal advice. But when it comes to Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) rattling the patent saber, he has a bit of legal analysis to share with Linux users.
"When you're a convicted monopolist in the marketplace, you really should not be suing your competitors over patents. I think most Microsoft lawyers would say, 'You know, let's not do that. That sounds insane.'"
Torvalds made the remark in an interview with Linux Foundation director Jim Zemlin, which has been published in two parts on the foundation's Web site in January and early February. Zemlin noted to Torvalds that Microsoft itself has been the target of several patent suits. In May, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith claimed in a Fortune magazine article that Microsoft 235 patents were infringed by Linux and other open source code.
