Microsoft learned from IBM, another strong proponent of -- and leading lobbyist for -- software patents

FUD explained at Wikipedia

Those Steve Ballmer quotes are real

Summary: Microsoft made FUD famous, but it was actually IBM's practice that made it commonplace in the first place (the term or acronym was coined before Microsoft even mattered and on the same year Microsoft was founded)

THE IDEA that IBM and Microsoft are opposites or that Red Hat and Microsoft are still competing with one another is rather simplistic. Red Hat considered selling itself to Microsoft and is sometimes accepting Microsoft as prime sponsor of its events. Those are not accidents. We recently learned that Red Hat's CEO wasn't even using GNU/Linux, so he's a lot like Jim Zemlin from the Linux Foundation. When I asked him about software patents 9 years ago he told me: "Software patents are not a criteria in our expansion plans."

"Red Hat is being assimilated to IBM rather than IBM adapting to the Red Hat culture of "open org" or "Red Hat way" or whatever."To him, whether or not there are software patents in Europe does not matter. Only half a decade earlier Red Hat pushed hard against these and then it started applying for lots of software patents that are now IBM's (and IBM uses such patents to shake down loads of companies).

Recent IBM moves suggest to us that not much is changing. Red Hat is being assimilated to IBM rather than IBM adapting to the Red Hat culture of "open org" or "Red Hat way" or whatever. Non-compliance is not an option. At the moment some workers are rather afraid; IBM doesn't keep its promise/commitment to Red Hat. We were warned about this is a very long time ago by a past victim of IBM takeovers. They rely on people forgetting their promises about 18 months down the line. ⬆