Published at LXer:

Ballmer's statement that Linux "uses our intellectual property." -- along with follow-up claims by Microsoft executives that they had found violations of 235 patents in Linux and other open-source software -- caused a sudden refrosting of what had been a slowly thawing relationship between the company and the open-source community. By dangling the threat of patent-infringement lawsuits over the heads of users and vendors alike, "Microsoft opened up a can of worms with the open-source community that they have been attempting to close since then," said Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif. So the two sides remain wary "frenemies." And their friend-or-foe relationship has continued to evolve in both directions this month.

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