Microsoft Promises Not To Sue Moonlight 2.0 Users 233
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by
timothy
from the even-the-stars-above dept.
from the even-the-stars-above dept.
darthcamaro writes "Moonlight 2.0, Novell's open source implementation of the Microsoft media framework, is now available and comes with a new patent promise from Microsoft. Any Linux user can use it now without worrying about being sued: '"A really important change in how the community and individuals will see and use Moonlight is a change and extension to the patent covenant that Microsoft provides to Novell and its end users," Brian Goldfarb, director of Web and user experience platforms at Microsoft, told InternetNews.com. "We're now increasing the reach of the agreement — Microsoft's commitment not to sue Novell or Novell's customers now extends to redistributors."'"
Silverlight... Like Flash, but shittier. (Score:0, Interesting)
I thought we had hit rock bottom with Flash. I mean, it's one of the shittiest plugins around. Half the time it crashes your browser, and the other half of the time it typically doesn't work. When it does, it's used more often than not for stupid and annoying ads.
Then Microsoft, not to be outdone, unleashes the shit that is known as Silverlight. Not only is it less portable than Flash, but it runs even slower, if you can imagine that! XAML is a fucking joke. It's SVG gone stupid, like only Microsoft can make something go stupid. And they throw in DRM, just to sour the deal even further.
We don't need this sort of pure feces included in any Linux distro. Keep that sort of shit away from my computer, thanks.
Does it cover users of other FOSS OSes? (Score:5, Interesting)
As a result of today's expansion of that deal, Moonlight users will enjoy protection under the patent covenant regardless of whether they're using Novell's (NASDAQ: NOVL) Linux distro or another distributor's.
"A really important change in how the community and individuals will see and use Moonlight is a change and extension to the patent covenant that Microsoft provides to Novell and its end users," Brian Goldfarb, director of Web and user experience platforms at Microsoft, told InternetNews.com. "We're now increasing the reach of the agreement -- Microsoft's commitment not to sue Novell or Novell customers now extends to redistributors."
The first sentence is the author's so reflects their interpretation. The second is a Microsoft person who uses the phrase "not to sue Novell or Novell customers now extends to redistributors". So who does that actually cover?
Look at this from another perspective... (Score:5, Interesting)
If somebody starts screaming "NO! I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU" what should you do? I don't know about you, but I'm running as fast as hell away from that person.
perhaps... (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps Linux users would feel better if Microsoft was actually hosting the downloads, etc? Maybe pay for a token part time developer?
Redistributors only or forks too? (Score:5, Interesting)
What happens to developers? Just in case, we fork out Novell's moonlight tree because they got bought by someone (*cough* mysql, *cough*), will the conventant apply to us? Or does it only apply to code written by Novell & redistributed by others? Does this indirectly kill the freedom to modify & redistribute? like that firefox logo thing?
Alright, I admit it, I do have an axe to grind against silverlight (and flash too, I guess). But this covenant just goes on to establish precedent in terms of patent coverage ... (yes, note my domain, I've been through this before).
Re:We won't sue you... (Score:3, Interesting)
They may be fine for getting someone to mow your lawn but for anything else, especially anything involving a MegaCorp, if its not in writing its not binding.
Includes Microsoft codec license (Score:4, Interesting)
This element stood out for me:
"Moonlight includes the Microsoft Media Pack, which is a set of proprietary codecs that Microsoft has licensed from their own patent holders and makes available to Moonlight users, free of charge."
Embrace, extend, extinguish (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sod Off Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Users are becoming savvy enough to know that there are other browser options out there, so if people start using HTML5 and IE doesn't support it, IE will lose users. For that reason, MS can't afford to ignore HTML5.
I predict that IE will implement enough HTML5 to be able to claim support for it, but the implementation will start out incomplete or not sufficiently robust to offer a good HTML5 experience. This will slow the uptake of HTML5 much like it did with CSS, but since MS no longer has the dominant position they had then, I don't think it'll matter much. If Google offers an improved youtube experience in HTML5, then people will switch to whatever browser supports it.
The way I see it, MS is no longer trying to win the browser war. They're just trying to stay relevant.
A good reason not to use (Score:3, Interesting)
One of the main reasons I got into open source software is because I didn't like the idea that newer versions of software could cost anything.
Why invest time in learning Photoshop when this version costs $600 but the next version may cost $3,000.
Some might say, just keep using the version you already bought. What happens when you can't buy a computer that comes with an OS that your version is compatible with?
Microsoft saying, "We won't sue users of Moonlight 2.0", is saying what about 2.0.1, or 2.5, or 4.0.