Microsoft and Open Source

Microsoft's approach toward licensing as it applies to open source software is not an attack, but a response to the demands of customers, a senior company executive said Wednesday.

Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's server and tools business, told attendees at the Interop business technology conference that controversy revolving around the company's claim that Linux and other open source software infringe on more than 200 Microsoft patents compelled him to "clarify our position on this, and where we're going."

Muglia said Microsoft was focused on interoperability with open source software, not on challenging the use of its intellectual property in court. "Our approach is a licensing based one," Muglia said. "It's a real issue for customers, and one that Microsoft is addressing proactively."

Microsoft has addressed the issue by offering licensing deals to open-source distributors. Novell, for example, entered a two-way deal last year that protects its customers from potential patent claims by Microsoft, while giving the software maker's customers the same protection in regards to Novell's intellectual property. The deal has been severely criticized by the open source community.

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