Driving a wedge between IBM and the FOSS community

happygeek 0 1K Views

"After years of pretending to be a friend of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), IBM now shows its true colors. IBM breaks the number one taboo of the FOSS community and shamelessly uses its patents against a well-respected FOSS project, the Hercules mainframe emulator."

Those are , the well known software developer and open source political lobbyist and founder of the NoSoftwarePatents campaign, who accuses IBM of betraying its promise to the FOSS community and claims the company has declared patent war in order to "protect its highly lucrative mainframe monopoly against Free and Open Source Software."

Open source business industry commentator Glyn Moody says that "IBM is either a friend of open source, or it's simply an opportunist, supporting some projects when it suits, and attacking others when it doesn't" and points out that amongst the patents that IBM is citing in the letter to TurboHercules which kicked off this new battle that there "seem to be some that it has “pledged” to the open source community." Mueller agrees, pointing out that patent numbers US 5613086 and US 5220669 can be found on page 4 of IBM's 2005 patent pledge. One thing is for sure, IBM is certainly a friend of the Patent Office.

Meanwhile, 'sources close to IBM' that Mueller is just "trying to drive a wedge between IBM and the open-source software community" and question his authority to speak on behalf of the FOSS community in the first place.

That is, perhaps, a distraction strategy of the first order. Anyone taking a look around the web will find plenty of support for the view that IBM has broken its patents promise and by so doing is attacking the FOSS community. Indeed, I'd suggest that it is beyond argument that a wedge is being driven between the two parties, but rather than accusing Mueller of wielding the hammer IBM would do well to look a little closer to home.

That wedge would appear to be big and blue.

Dani AI

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This thread frames two separate but linked issues: community trust when a big vendor asserts patents against an open-source project, and whether those actions conflict with earlier public promises. voices the sense of betrayal many feel when a partner appears to reverse course. is right to push for evidence and for a clear explanation of how this affects Linux/OSS users and distributors.

Practical checklist for maintainers and downstream distributors:

  • Preserve all correspondence and public statements exactly as received.
  • Ask the claimant for specific patent numbers, claim charts, and a written explanation of which uses they say infringe.
  • Compare the claimant's public patent-pledge language (if any) to the specific patents cited; pledges often include carve-outs or conditions.
  • Run a prior‑art search or commission one; that can overturn or limit asserted claims.
  • Get qualified IP counsel early; do not treat forum debate as a substitute for legal advice.
  • Consider short-term mitigation: remove or isolate the contested code, offer a clean‑room reimplementation, or offer to accept a temporary license while positions are clarified.
  • Coordinate with other affected projects, vendors, or a defensive-patent organization if costs are high.

Measured public communication helps: explain technical exposure without speculation, keep contributors informed, and avoid inflaming the situation before facts are verified. Both skepticism and outrage have roles here — verify the claim, then act to limit legal and community harm. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Member Avatar for einheit
einheit 0 Newbie Poster

Why are these people claiming that IBM has somehow broken a promise to the linux/oss community?

Just out of curiosity, what does a microsoft-funded IBM rival have to do with linux/oss in the first place? I don't see the connection.

On what grounds do these people object to IBM not wanting to give away the store to this competitor?

What bearing does IBM asserting its patents against this microsoft-funded vendor have to do with its pledge to the linux/oss community?

What are these people thinking? I'm amazed at the absolutely insane conclusions they are jumping to.

Edited by einheit because: n/a
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