Well what do you know? Microsoft seems to be gaining ground with their "patent protection" scheme. But what if they discover they've only bought a few bricks of fool's gold?

Microsoft does not believe there is an inherent contradiction between its recent statements that free and open-source software infringes on 235 of its patents, and the veiled legal threats that go along with that, and its attempts to reach out and build bridges with the open-source community.

Microsoft's Windows operating system and Office desktop applications are threatened by open source code, but the company will be reluctant to file a patent suit, foundation officials said...

Novell is concerned that Microsoft could stop selling SUSE Linux coupons if the GPLv3 remains in its current form.

Proprietary software provider, Microsoft is again in the news with its CEO, Steve Ballmer, accusing the Linux community of infringing 235 untested patents. The software company has raised objections against the open source software community for this infringement.

If you earned $34 million a day from Windows and Office, you too would try to spook the market with patent threats.

"The List" is nearly 500 names long, and growing rapidly. It might have started out as a light-hearted jab, but it has quickly become a flash point of the building fury in the open source software community toward Microsoft and its recent claim of patent infringements.

We're now seeing Microsoft's true stripes. The performance of the products is a charade, an unfortunate cost of doing business in a once competitive market. The real means to profits and market share are really about legal positioning, but in essence necessitates a military posture. For what are laws and lawyers but a means to avoid violence and warfare in lieu of a day in court?