{"id":552507,"date":"2007-06-08T07:47:06","date_gmt":"2007-06-08T07:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/552507-i-d-love-to-work-with-microsoft-2.html"},"modified":"2007-06-08T07:47:06","modified_gmt":"2007-06-08T07:47:06","slug":"i-d-love-to-work-with-microsoft-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/552507-i-d-love-to-work-with-microsoft-2.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019d love to work with Microsoft\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dell recently agreed to sell PCs preloaded with Ubuntu Linux. Please talk about the mechanics of the deal.<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not so much a deal with Dell as a decision Dell took on the back of strongly voiced demand from its customers in the US. It took the decision to approach us and launch the initiative. There are some limitations. It\u2019s US-only at the moment and it\u2019s a nice range of computers, but it\u2019s not Dell\u2019s full set of consumer offerings. However, it\u2019s a phenomenal step in terms of people\u2019s understanding of the suitability of Linux as a general-purpose desktop platform. <\/font><\/p>\n

Will you make any money out of the arrangement with Dell?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Yes. There\u2019s an option when people buy the computers to buy a support contract. The business model is very much about giving the platform away for free. That meets some of my philanthropic goals, but I really believe it is the right strategy in the free software world. <\/font><\/p>\n

How many Dell customers will select Ubuntu?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the big question. Will there be sufficient demand for Dell to maintain this as an open line? It may do so just because Linux users are very vocal. But my hope is that there is sufficient demand to justify Dell keeping a small headcount and factory process associated with this. <\/font><\/p>\n

Linux vendor Novell recently signed a controversial deal with Microsoft. What is your take on it?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Microsoft is arguing that Linux violates its patents and that Novell is paying for the privilege of using that intellectual property, and it says that everybody else should as well. As soon as Microsoft said that, Novell said: \u201cHang on a minute, we never agreed to anything like that.\u201d The two parties hadn\u2019t even agreed on what they were agreeing on. <\/font><\/p>\n

Microsoft is asking people to pay them for patents, but they won\u2019t say which ones. If a guy walks into a shop and says: \u201cIt\u2019s an unsafe neighbourhood, why don\u2019t you pay me 20 bucks and I\u2019ll make sure you\u2019re okay,\u201d that\u2019s illegal. It\u2019s racketeering. What Microsoft is doing with intellectual property is exactly the same. It\u2019s a great company and I have great admiration for it, but this was not a well considered position. <\/font><\/p>\n

So you wouldn\u2019t do a deal?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

No, absolutely not. But the time will come when the folks at Microsoft who have a clear vision for the company as a participant in this community, rather than as a hostile antagonist, will win. At that point I\u2019d love to work with Microsoft. It\u2019s not an evil empire. It\u2019s just a company that is efficiently grounded in the 1980s. New leadership and new thinking might make it a more effective partner for us. <\/font><\/p>\n

More importantly, people need to understand that the risk of a patent suit associated with Linux, which is a real risk, is far greater from someone other than Microsoft. Signing a deal with Microsoft doesn\u2019t solve the patent problem at all. It doesn\u2019t give you patent immunity. It gives you immunity from a suit from Microsoft and I really don\u2019t think that\u2019s the threat. Microsoft won\u2019t win a patent war, so I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll start one. <\/font><\/p>\n

Who would the aggressor be?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

It would typically be a small firm that does nothing but hold patents. <\/font><\/p>\n

Will your main focus remain Ubuntu?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

I have other things I\u2019m involved in, though those tend to be at a high and strategic capital allocation level. Ubuntu represents 2%-10% of my asset base, depending on whether I look at it now or at what I expect to spend in the next couple of years. But it takes up almost all of my time. It\u2019s the one I\u2019m most passionate about and where I hope to be able to make the biggest difference. <\/font><\/p>\n

Have you emigrated?<\/strong> <\/font><\/p>\n

Yes, in 2001, and have been living in London rather reluctantly since. The primary motivation is exchange controls. I found that every time I wanted to make an investment globally I needed to go through a very random process with the Reserve Bank. These regulations are just not suited for rapid, small investments in risky, forward-looking projects. If they drop the regulations, the moment I\u2019m certain that Ubuntu is on a clear trajectory of its own, I\u2019ll move back to Cape Town. It\u2019s where I want to be. <\/font><\/p>\n

A full audio transcript of the interview is available at <\/font>www.fmtech.co.za<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

Comments<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Duncan McLeod spoke to software billionaire Mark Shuttleworth last week about his Ubuntu Linux deal with Dell, the Microsoft software patent fracas, and his desire to return to live in SA. This is an edited extract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-552507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}