The press is gleefully using sensationalist headlines, arguing that Linux indeed violates patents, without even attributing this to baseless, self-serving, and fuzzy claims made by Microsoft. Where feedback facilities are available, I have tried to correct some bloggers' inaccuracies. Maybe these effort will bear fruit.

Is anybody in the business world worried about this? On the fact on it -- not so much. Have a look at Wall Street.

If there is any pure play proxy for Linux OS software sales, it is RedHat. And, its stock is flat on the news. At noon, it was at $22.75, flat on light volume of 675,000 shares. On a normal day the stock trades over 2 million shares. No running for the doors here.

Have a look at this developer survey.

...patent worries are down among Linux users over the last three years. LinuxDevices.com's latest reader survey, published earlier this month, suggested that only about 22 percent of embedded Linux developers take patent concerns seriously, down from 33 percent two years ago.

Watch the nice chart on the page if you wish. People seem very confident about the inevitability of Linux. At the end of the day, the biggest sufferer here might be Microsoft.

If Microsoft wants to avoid ridicule, it has two choices: sue or shut up. Until it decides, we call its bluff.