@ChaosTheEternal said in Microsoft out to steal all your Docker?:
IANAL, but why does it feel like whoever posted that didn't actually read it correctly? Yes, there is that paragraph that says your rights under their promise is terminated by claiming patent infringement against them, but the same file also says what that promise is (emphasis added):
Microsoft Corporation and its affiliates ("Microsoft") promise not to assert any .NET Patents against you for making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing, or distributing Covered Code, as part of either a .NET Runtime or as part of any application designed to run on a .NET Runtime.
So, the promise looks to be that Microsoft won't seek to assert their patents (i.e. receive compensation for use of their patents) against you as long as you don't try to claim they're infringing on patents.
Which just makes it all worse because you won't be pursued just for license infringement - you'll also be pursued for infringements of all patents that MS has, deliberately or otherwise, made use of when writing their open source code! Also, it flies in the face of the entire open source philosophy - that code should be freely accessible to everyone - and turns it into regular trade transaction: our patents for your patents. It's also a quite major concern for any company that holds any valuable patents that Microsoft might make a use of. Even if not a deal breaker, it's definitely something everyone considering basing their tech stack on .Net should be aware of - similar to how everyone is aware of the consequences of using GPL software. So even if it's not necessarily a wrong practice, it's still worth to make a fuss about it.
To throw a wrench into the "Micro$oft iz ebil!!1" mindset, here's part of Red Hat's patent promise (emphasis added):
To the extent a party makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, imports, or otherwise transfers Covered FOSS, Red Hat agrees not to use such actions as a basis for enforcing its patents against the party ("Our Promise"), subject to the limitations herein. Our Promise extends to combinations with such Covered FOSS if the claimed invention is substantially embodied in the Covered FOSS portion of a combination and if all other portions of the combination are merely enabling or general-purpose technologies or practices. For clarity, Our Promise does not extend to hardware by itself or other non-Covered FOSS by itself. Our Promise also does not extend to the actions of a party (including past actions) if at any time the party or its affiliate asserts a patent in proceedings against Red Hat (or its affiliate) or any offering of Red Hat (or its affiliate) (including a cross-claim or counterclaim).
My reading of that has Red Hat as the same level of evil as Microsoft.
They are indeed. They're also double assholes for dropping the responsibility for checking that their code doesn't infringe anyone else's patents on you:
A party relying on Our Promise acknowledges that Our Promise is not an assurance that Red Hat's patents are enforceable or that practicing Red Hat's patented inventions does not infringe others’ patents or other intellectual property. Red Hat is not liable to a party relying on Our Promise for related claims brought by another based on infringement of intellectual property rights or otherwise.
