Microsoft’s Ballmer continues to threaten Linux.
In a clear threat against open-source users, Ballmer repeated his earlier assertions that open source “is not free,” referring to the possibility that Microsoft may sue Linux sellers. Microsoft has suggested that the Linux operating system infringes some of its intellectual property, but it has never named the patents in question.
“I would not anticipate that we make a huge additional revenue stream from our Novell deal, but I do think it clearly establishes that open source is not free, and open source will have to respect the intellectual-property rights of others, just as any other competitor will,” Ballmer said.
If this is how Ballmer wants Linux to respect IPR, then no thank you! Honestly, I do not think that the Linux community will allow code to violate any IPR and if, by chance, there is copyrighted code, then I do think that it will not take long before the community fixes it.
Anyhow, would you believe someone who acts like that person in the video? Frankly, I won’t but hey, I’d say to him, “why don’t you try and set an example and sue Red Hat or Ubuntu?” We’ll see how far your lawsuit will go. 
I think this is a desperate attempt to combat their competitors considering that Vista is not selling very well. Ballmer even blames pirates instead of smarter consumers for opting to switch to the Mac or install Linux or simply stick with XP (poor souls!)!
Ballmer believes that one way Microsoft can bump up Windows sales is to tighten the screws on pirates. “Piracy reduction can be a source of Windows revenue growth, and I think we’ll make some piracy improvements this year.”
Haven’t they been doing this for years? C’mon! Simply unbelievable! But then again, I’d say “bring it on!” Crank up your anti-piracy drive and go after these darn pirates and prove that they’re the reason why Vista revenue is low.
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