Summary: Distortion of the field of virtualisation even inside the Linux Foundation, which allowed Microsoft to step right in

AS we briefly noted yesterday, OpenDaylight is having an event (summit) and some Linux journalists attend. This is interesting because through OpenDaylight there is now somewhat of a proprietary software mole inside the Linux Foundation, acting as a manager.

Recall the time Red Hat hired from Microsoft for virtualisation, repeating the mistake of some other GNU/Linux vendors. Red Hat is complaining about the USPTO [1] and Microsoft's patent extortion, so what was it thinking when it hired from Microsoft? The same mistake was made by the Linux Foundation when it hired a former Microsoft employee to head OpenDaylight after Microsoft had paid a lot of money. To quote a new article, "Microsoft is invested in OpenDaylight" (as in, bought it off to a degree, just like it did with Novell). We spent year covering the distortion of virtualisation, especially by Microsoft. Lots of Microsoft executives took over VMware, a Microsoft ally bought Xen, and generally speaking the Novell deal enabled Microsoft to turn GNU/Linux into a guest under Windows hosts. It also allowed Microsoft to promote Hyper-V right inside Linux (initially a GPL infringement), essentially making Linux dependent on proprietary spyware with NSA back doors.

"As a platinum member, Microsoft is paying half-a-million a year to the consortium and devoted ten full-time developers to OpenDaylight. That may be small change for Microsoft, but it's not chicken feed either. The company has already demonstrated the first release of OpenDaylight, Hydrogen, on Azure" writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols. Azure to GNU/Linux is surveillance and patent tax. Is this where Linux is going? Hosting by Microsoft, which engages in extortion and racketeering? This is worrisome and we're not the only ones claiming so. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Top court decisions to come for US public policy in 2014

   A recent post on the top events ahead in 2014 for reforming abusive patent litigation focused on efforts by State Attorneys General, the Federal Trade Commission, and US Congress. Let’s now take a look to another field involved in the multi-prong strategy to address patent abuse: the Supreme Court, which is considering a number of important cases.