[Fedora-legal-list] http://www.fsf.org/news/dont-depend-on-mono

[Michael Cronenworth]

Jon Stanley on 06/29/2009 09:42 AM wrote:
> However, I don't think there's anything to worry about here.  The only
> reason that we ship mono *at all* is that we're covered by some OIN
> patents on it. I'm not sure which OIN patents those are, but
> essentially if Microsoft wants to pick that fight, we'll play their
> game.  There is no benefit to Microsoft due to the "mutually assured
> destruction" principle.
> 

The only way you'd see a lawsuit would be if a third party company had
.NET patents. Microsoft doesn't fight you directly. They find a punching
bag and use that instead. Eg. Microsoft picking a fight using SCO. Eg.
Microsoft picking a fight with RH and JBoss using a small Texas software
company. Etc.