There's been a lot of legal saber rattling in and about the Linux world in recent weeks, including dire warnings from Microsoft's lawyers that open-source software violates patents held by the software giant and fears that the Free Software Foundation might punish Novell for its controversial patent deal with Microsoft. But so far the response from the solution provider community has been more of a collective shrug.
"I don't think it's terribly damaging to Linux," says Chris Maresca, a founding partner of the Olliance group, referring to Microsoft's rumblings. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Olliance provides open-source strategic consulting services to technology vendors and technology purchasers, and Maresca doesn't see any businesses shying away from Linux.