[sf-lug] Windows and Linux OS to work together

[Catherine Jones]

Thanks, Rick, for the pointer to groklaw.net for information on the 
Microsoft-Novell pact.

Reading through Friday's discussion there

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061103073628401

broought up a lot of questions for me about both Linux community 
strategy and individual FOSS developer choices (libraries, patents, 
licensing agreements, et cetera). How do we best defend open-source 
software against anti-competitive misuse of patents? These are very old 
(and, of course, potentially inflammatory) questions, but I think it 
might be useful to have a semi-planned discussion of them at one of the 
future sf-lug meetings.

I know that I (for one) need to bring myself up to date on some of the 
issues. Are there people in sf-lug with special knowledge to share in 
this area? Should some of us take on the task of reporting back on 
particular topics - e.g., versions of the GPL or the risks (real, 
perceived, or wildly speculative) of litigation against particular open 
source projects?

Well, just a thought....

Catherine