A few weeks ago I posted how I was considering a new look at Mono and .net technology. I mean I have heard the claims by the other side about patent FUD and that you cannot avoid stepping on anyone’s toes in the muddy water when it’s standing room only and we’ve begun to slam dance. So cast aside litigation fears for using .net technology, after all it is an open standard right? Embrace the possibilities and realize that we are all trying to be friends here. Developers unit! It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than solicit permission. Blah blah blah!

Well lo and behold what happens? Microsoft comes out against Tom Tom and three of the 7 patents they claim infringe target technologies used in the Linux kernel and technology built on top of Linux. Fat patents and Windowing environment are at stake here.

For 11 years Microsoft has sat on it’s hands while the FAT filesystem and Fat filesystem with long name support became ubiquitous technologies in storage devices, multimedia devices, and operating systems, never enacting a tax. Now here they come.

Some proclaim this has nothing to do with Linux and everything to do with legitimate retaliation for blatant disregard for Microsoft’s IP. Others see this as the first shot in the patent war to come and Microsoft’s entry into the war against Linux. A war it will not fight based on technology but dirty back room dealings where-by they bully and starve smaller companies into paying out the nose to use superior technology or settle for a cheaper, shoddy alternative graciously licensed by MS.

I’m sure in the end it will more than likely be a line drive down the middle and hopefully some sensibility will be breathed into the patent system or it torn down all together with regards to software patents.

Never-the-less, along the way there is going to be some serious damage done. Once again, we are looking at a potential set back to the adoption of Linux not because of Linux’s technical merits but because we have a bully at the door demanding businesses fork over their lunch money to get into the retail chains and pointing to the troll under the bridge that demands his cut lest he eat your goats. This flat out stinks! We are on the cusp of great things: Fantastic technologies that fit in the palm of your hand to warehouses of systems clustered together to wonderful consumer devices that will enrich everyone’s lives!. Now they all potentially face stifling tariffs from an antiquated patent system and a company with deep pockets who’s innovation relies more and more on new techniques to buy out or muscle out the competition instead of releasing quality products.

Alas, back to Mono and once again I must ask myself. Is if really worth it to dance with the beast? How many times are we going to ferry the scorpion across the river on our backs only to be stung each time we reach the shore? The old adage proclaims: “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” We’ve been fooled way to many times now and I for one am sick of looking like an idiot.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got. Microsoft has not changed it’s colors at all. Why should we continue to compromise?