Some argue that Microsoft's recent assault on Linux might be a case of reflection. As one reporter puts it:

The Microsoft -- Linux controversy has been stoked further by the assertion that Microsoft will ultimately be the company hardest hit by patent litigation.

Mark Shuttleworth said the same thing the other day. Microsoft is at great risk due to software patents.

On the day that Dell starts to sell PCs pre-loaded with Ubuntu, the Linux company's chief has warned Microsoft that it faces certain defeat if it attempts to start a patent war.

Is it is defensive manoeuvre then? It seems improbable. Chin Wong, a columnist, writes "Patently wrong", which makes me think of the famous "bully complex".

Every schoolyard has a bully who uses his size to intimidate the other kids, or a rich brat who threatens to take his ball home if he doesn't get his way.

Put in a different context, Microsoft tries to show some muscles and keep its potentionally-litigious foes away. ITWire offers a fairly one-sided analysis of the whole Microsoft/Novell/EFF scenario and what it means.

Some will say Microsoft pressure made them do it, but I think the companies concerned were big enough to make their own decisions.

Remember that Microsoft wants a patent reform as well.