Now that the Ubuntu box has been in place for about three weeks now, I have notices that I did not post on its progress. As of last Sunday, 14 CDs have been taken. The current depletion rate is at an even seven CDs per week. It may not sound like many CDs, but that is 14 more people with Ubuntu.

Now, on to some more interesting stuff.

Linspire’s CEO has written another of his “Linspire Letters”, with the latest outlining his reaction - to the reactions of the Linspire vs. Microsoft. His reaction is somewhat predictable (We give choice, etc.). However, there is one paragraph that caught my eye, with a quote over to the side from within the paragraph:

“For Linux to be taken seriously by the mainstream distribution channels and enterprise customers, it needs to respect the IP of others. I’m quite sure Linspire has done more than just about any other Linux distributor to license patents, copyrights and trademarks so we can bring the best of open source and proprietary offerings to our customers. I believe this practice will mean something as Linux moves beyond the early adopters to mainstream channels. I want our users to have confidence when they use Linspire Linux, knowing that it has crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s, and is a fully legal and supported product. Microsoft is just one of the dozens of companies we have entered into agreements with to deliver on that promise.”

The key part is:

“For Linux to be taken seriously by the mainstream distribution channels and enterprise customers, it needs to respect the IP of others.”

Respect the IP. Where have we heard this before? Why, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, of coarse! Remember, right after the Novell/Microsoft announcement? We all know that Linux respects the IP of all companies. Is there a chance that some patents are crossed with Microsoft? Yes, there is - just as much as Microsoft violates Linux patents.

Here’s the link to the letter:

http://www.linspire.com/linspire_letter_archives.php?id=49

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