Linus Torvalds has reportedly piled into Microsoft after its senior legal eagle after claimed the Linux operating system violates hundreds of the company's patents.

Torvalds, the Linux trademark holder, told InformationWeek's Charlie Babcock it's more likely Microsoft is a violator of patents given most work on operating systems was done long before Windows, or Microsoft, were a glint in Bill Gates' eye.

He's also called on Microsoft to effectively put up or shut up, by naming which patents violate Microsoft's intellectual property instead of saber rattling.

"The whole, 'We have a list and we're not telling you,' itself should tell you something," Torvalds said. "Don't you think that if Microsoft actually had some really foolproof patent, they'd just tell us and go 'nyaah, nyaah, nyaah'."

According to Torvalds, naming patents would let open source coders fix any problems, should they exist.

Torvalds' comments follow those of Sun Microsystems' chief executive Jonathan Schwartz who blogged about the wisdom of taking a SCO-like approach and putting the squeeze on customers by suing for licensing revenue.

"You would be wise to listen to the customers you're threatening to sue - they can leave you, especially if you give them motivation," Schwartz wrote.

Microsoft latest statement - carefully placed to attract the more discerning IT purchasing decision maker in Fortune - appears to be upping the ante on open source. Microsoft has failed to rack up more Novell-like relationships with Linux and open source vendors to - in Microsoft's view - protect IP it claims exists in open source and Linux.

The 235 claimed violations claimed in Fortune are actually down from the 286 number Ballmer inaccurately cited years ago, a number based on a survey by Open Source Risk Management (OSRM), which actually stated that 287 patents existed - different to patent violations - inside the Linux kernel.®

More comments…

Related stories

Patent violation, prosecution, acquisition: pick your top open-source project (11 July 2008)
HP gets an ology for FOSS (25 January 2008)
SCO gets offer for Unix biz (25 October 2007)
SCO 'disappointed' as shares plunge 70 per cent (13 August 2007)
Novell owns Unix copyrights after all (11 August 2007)
Linux vendors and Microsoft follow the money (10 August 2007)
Specsavers opens eyes to open source (14 June 2007)
Linspire invites dirty uncle Microsoft over for patent party (14 June 2007)
Microsoft too busy to name Linux patents (24 May 2007)
On Microsoft's feeble Fortune-based nastygram to Red Hat (14 May 2007)
Study: Users pay for Microsoft patent woes (18 April 2007)
Novell: in it for the interop, not the money (13 December 2006)
Is 'GNU/Solaris' emerging from Microsoft-Novell deal? (30 November 2006)
Microsoft to Novell: Respect (21 November 2006)
Moglen: How we'll kill the Microsoft Novell deal (20 November 2006)
Microsoft's patent promise 'empty' (11 November 2006)
Microsoft loves SUSE Linux (true!) (3 November 2006)
Microsoft's Ballmer tells lurvely partners to stick it to IBM (10 July 2005)
Use Linux and you will be sued, Ballmer tells governments (18 November 2004)