Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents 'Reform' Debate Still Controlled by Corporations, Price of GNU/Linux Servers at Stake

Summary: Revisiting the largely-warped patent debate, which focuses on desires of corporations and continues to leave Free software vulnerable

WHEN big corporations say they are against the NSA they don't mean what we, mere mortals, assume they are saying. To corporations the issues are seen very differently; they're not bothered about privacy at all, they are only concerned with how much money they make and how customers perceive their privacy policies. Well, the same goes for patents.



When Susan Decker is writing for the corporate press (Bloomberg) she is serving the same media that regularly misuses the propaganda term "Intellectual Property" and elevates monopoly. It's fake concern. Decker is of course just focusing on patent trolls (the small ones), not big trolls like Microsoft or even the problem with patent scope (e.g. software patents). This whole debate about patents got warped by corporations, especially last year ,and we lost interest in covering it anymore. To speak about trolls and focus/obsess over them it to merely serve the corporate propaganda. Activism and grassroots movements got co-opted by plutocrats; no wonder FFII is no longer active.

"This won't do anything against real trolls," iophk explained. "Those are just paper companies with no assets to confiscate." Notice how Microsoft Nokia-fed patent troll MOSAID brags about growth, saying it "Doubles In Size".

To speak about trolls without talking about those who give them patents (like Microsoft gave patents to Vringo, which then attacked Google) totally misses the point. "Nor does it address the root problem of software patents themselves."

Rackspace, which is one of the few US companies (of considerable size) that fought back against software patents, has just had its CEO 'retiring' [1], which doesn't bode well for proper resistance. IBM, the architect of OIN, is rapidly shrinking [2,3] (not just outsourcing), which also can affect its GNU/Linux servers endeavours [4]. Servers are an area where GNU/Linux is dominant [5] and companies like Rackspace do exceptionally well (we recently covered the policy of releasing code as Free software at Rackspace). IBM recently sold its x86 server business to the Chinese (x86 servers still matter [6]) and at HP servers are now made which are GNU/Linux-only [7] (no Windows support). Google, the world's biggest GNU/Linux user (Google is bigger than Amazon, Salesforce and others), has been coming under the most legal cases over patents involving Linux, Chrome OS, Android etc. Some GNU/Linux servers, such as the ones at Amazon, are already being taxed by Microsoft -- a trend we must counter as a matter of priority. Tackling patent policy would be the simplest solution. This is probably the most important issue facing Free software today.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Rackspace Doubles Down on OpenStack as CEO Retires


  2. IBM layoffs strike first in India; workers describe cuts as 'slaughter' and 'massive'


  3. "Slaughter House": First Person Accounts Of How IBM Just Fired Thousands Of Workers Across India
    A week ago, the Dell dude warned that it's going to be a layoff "bloodbath" as the recently LBO-ed firm began firing 15,000. Now it's IBM's turn.

    According to WRAL Tech Wire, the company which has underperformed Wall Street's expectations for many quarters, has begun "cost-rationalizing" terminations in India - the country that hosts some 100,000 of IBM's employees and where IBM reportedly employs the greatest number of workers. The unit targeted is the Systems Technology Group which is the troubled hardware group selling its low-end x86 server business to Lenovo for $2.3 billion and where Big Blue's executives have launched "Resource Action", also known as "rebalancing" but best known as mass, across the board terminations where by some estimates up to 13,000 of IBM's 434,000 workers are set to be let go.


  4. IBM Power Development Platform Emphasizes Linux ISVs
    Access to Power Systems servers for business partners, primarily independent software providers (ISVs), has been revamped with improved tooling for Linux-oriented ISVs bringing that development arena up to par with what has existed for IBM i and AIX developers for some time. This particular partner program, which is now called the IBM Power Development Platform (PDP), was formerly known as the Virtual Loaner Program. It was established in 2003 to encourage ISV development projects and provide a cloud-based test environment for companies developing and enhancing applications.


  5. Has Linux Conquered the Cloud?
    The only challenge left for Linux to fully conquer the cloud is in the private and hybrid sectors. Private cloud technology like OpenStack is pushing Linux kernel-based virtual machines, or KVMs, on the compute side and challenging VMware's position, asserted Turk.


  6. Futuremark Develops Servermark Benchmarking Tool For Linux-Based x86 Servers
    Today, Futuremark is expanding into the enterprise space with Servermark, which the company says is “a new benchmark that will enable IT professionals in businesses large and small to accurately measure and compare the performance of servers.”


  7. FIRST LOOK: HP takes giant leap in server design
    Another interesting wrinkle: Only Linux distributions are supported: Red Hat, CentOS, Fedora, and Ubuntu. No Windows.


Recent Techrights' Posts

Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
 
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
When You Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day