Microsoft makes claim on Linux code

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that every user of the open source Linux system could owe his company money for using its intellectual property. The statement will confirm the worst fears of the open source community.

Microsoft recently signed a deal for SUSE Linux, a Novell-owned distribution of the Linux operating system. The two companies pledged that they would improve the interoperability of their products. Open source advocates were amazed at the deal, but Ballmer’s comments could vindicate the suspicions of some.

Ballmer said in a question and answer session at a technology conference that Microsoft signed the deal because Linux “uses our intellectual property” and it wanted to “get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation”.

Those claims to rights in Linux will set alarm bells ringing in the open source community. Some had argued that the deal was a sophisticated way of claiming rights over the software.

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