When I gave a talk about open source in Moncton last week, I was asked about the legal risks of open source. After all, Linux doesn't come with any protection against patent lawsuits. I mumbled something about assuming your own risk. But on reflection, it seems to me that what this represents is not an issue but a business opportunity - providing legal shelter for large corporations wanting - but afraid to - use open source. It's an advantage that was not lost on Sun. The company recently announced that it would make its Solaris operating system - a flavour of Unix, very similar to Linux - available for free. But as this article notes, it is offering the product with patent protection, so users need not fear lawsuits. Now that's turning a problem into an advantage.
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