Ballmer threatens open-source... again

Uh oh, here we go again. As you'll recall, Microsoft CEO and notable sweaty billionaire Steve Ballmer made some pretty strong comments earlier this year, claiming that Linux software violates some 235 Microsoft patents. The burden of proof was on Ballmer though and when Microsoft failed to reveal the patents in question, the open-source community balked at what it assumed was plain old FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). Well, it seemed like that was that but we were wrong: the Ballminator is back and he's waving those patents around like nobody's business. At a Microsoft partner meeting in London, Ballmer again accused the open-source community of infringing on Microsoft's intellectual property. "We've spent a lot of money licensing patents, when people come to us and say, 'Hey, this commercial piece of software violates our patent, our intellectual property, we'll either get a court judgment or we'll pay a big check,'" Ballmer said. "And we are going to [settle the matter]. I think it is important that the open-source products also have an obligation to participate in the same way in the intellectual property regime." Ballmer then went on to point out Novell as a company that has complied with Microsoft's wishes, while shaming Red Hat for not making a similar deal. "People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to eventually compensate us." Is it just me, or is all this patent posturing getting old after almost a full year? The time to put up or shut up has long since passed--which is it going to be, Ballmer?

For more on Ballmer's comments:
- see this Linux-Watch article