Firefox and Moonlight (Mono) "Free Software" Status?

[Keith G. Robertson-Turner]

Verily I say unto thee, that Tom "spot" Callaway spake thusly:
> On Mon, 2008-06-02 at 03:28 +0100, Keith G. Robertson-Turner wrote:

>> Why are you still shipping Mono?
> 
> Apologies in advance, I cannot be overly specific about legal issues.
> Red Hat (and I) are aware of your concerns around mono, and after 
> discussing this in depth with Red Hat Legal, we have no immediate 
> plans to remove mono from Fedora.

Thanks Tom.

IANAL either, but AFAICT there is no real threat of litigation. The
"threat" is more in terms of manipulation (a la Novell, Linspire, etc.)
My fear is that Microsoft will wait until their IP is firmly established
in Free Software, then use that as leverage to coerce "deals" that both
suppresses Free Software and fortifies Microsoft's monopoly. Their
patents may well be completely indefensible for all the difference it
makes to that agenda. Other distros have already conceded without any
legal intervention. This tactic also brings mindshare to their platform
at our expense (brain drain), since their technology indoctrinates the
Windows paradigm (both technically and philosophically).

It's hard to convict a criminal who has not yet committed the crime, but
I'm ever hopeful of successfully forewarning the prospective victims.

I'll move this to the appropriate list and RMS directly.

-- 
Regards,
Keith G. Robertson-Turner