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Microsoft Now Earns Money from GNU/Linux and Free Software

The nasty things which Jeremy Allison once talked about turn out to be a reality. Behind the scenes, Microsoft is pulling money out of companies that are using GNU/Linux. They do this secretly.

Microsoft currently collects royalties from some companies that use Linux in their computing environments, Gutierrez said. However, he declined to indicate the number, the dollar amount Microsoft receives from those payments, or identify any of the companies by name.


Might this be a form of extortion? 'Protection money' that is not even backed by any court decision, but only by threats and saber rattling? Someone ought to discover which companies do this, approach them, and request that they stop these unnecessary payments that become damaging precedence. Without any reasoning, Microsoft makes Linux expensive for companies to acquire and use. Microsoft is making money out of Linux and Free software, which suddenly it believes ought to fill its cash registers.

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