Maui 2 Released For Open-Source UI Framework

[ed31337]

Microsoft likes stealing acronyms/names.

MAUI, XInput, GVFS

So too does the open source community. IIRC, the Linux Direct Rendering Manager acronym was specifically choosen to collide with the un-trademarked "Digital Rights Management" acronym being deployed at the time, in an effort to derail that namespace.

[coder]

Again: the judge has to follow the law. If they think something is against the law, they will rule in favor of whoever is right. Doesn't matter if the other party has more or better lawyers. At least in most countries.

I can't speak to the laws in "most countries". I do know that, in the USA, this would be a civil case, rather than a criminal one. In a civil case, there would probably be a burden for the plaintiff to show they had sufficient ownership of the name, and had suffered significant monetary damages by Microsoft's actions. The latter part could be important for recouping the court costs of bringing the case.

Basically, unless you have a lot at stake, no one really wants to go to court. It's a long, drawn-out, and expensive proposition. That's a major reason there are so many out-of-court settlements.

BTW, I once heard a lawyer telling his buddy about a guy threatening him with a lawsuit against his client. The lawyer said: "is that supposed to be a threat? Do you know how I get paid?" Of course, the lawyer is obligated to look out for the legal interests of his client, but I think he was just pointing out the irony of the situation.

Anyway, the point of that anecdote is that when lawsuits start flying, often times the only ones who really win are the lawyers. And for corporate lawyers, if they had nothing to do, it'd be hard to justify keeping them on the payroll. That's yet another reason not to get lawyers involved. They operate on a different timescale and don't really have much incentive to hurry the process along. I had some firsthand experience with this, as I once got roped into a patent-infringement lawsuit one of my employers filed that seemed on fairly shaky ground.

[khanich]

Vistaus the thing they are talking about here is: do the KDE developers have enough money for the lawsuit?
If you have a big and good enough legal team, you can drag a lawsuit out for quite a long time. If the KDE developers run out of money before the lawsuit finishes, MS has practically (although not theoretically) won.

[tildearrow]

Microsoft also have a UI framework called MAUI.

Microsoft likes stealing acronyms/names.

MAUI, XInput, KMS, GVFS

[Vistaus]

Yes and no. It is not just more lawyers, but better ones. Having a big team digging information and manipulating it to their needs 24/7, until the case is closed, always put the small guys at disadvantage in court. As countless cases in where rich people are involved, money do talk in the justice system, anywhere in the world. Just look at that Samsung dude that just got released in less than half his sentence in South Korea. Or look at the past, where MS financially helped SCO to take IBM into courts for years and years. Those two only happened because rivers of money where put into lawyers accounts.

Again: the judge has to follow the law. If they think something is against the law, they will rule in favor of whoever is right. Doesn't matter if the other party has more or better lawyers. At least in most countries. Of course, there are a few exceptions like North Korea or Zimbabwe.

[M@GOid]

Stop that nonsese already! People always keep spreading that kind of FUD. It doesn't matter if KDE has 2 lawyers or 100 like Microsoft, the judge (and jury, if the case is handled in the US or Belgium) will base his/her decision based on what the law says. He/She's not going to favor Microsoft just because they have more lawyers.

Yes and no. It is not just more lawyers, but better ones. Having a big team digging information and manipulating it to their needs 24/7, until the case is closed, always put the small guys at disadvantage in court. As countless cases in where rich people are involved, money do talk in the justice system, anywhere in the world. Just look at that Samsung dude that just got released in less than half his sentence in South Korea. Or look at the past, where MS financially helped SCO to take IBM into courts for years and years. Those two only happened because rivers of money where put into lawyers accounts.

[Vistaus]

Is there any distro or desktop environment that uses MAUI applications as basis?

Nitrux: https://nxos.org/
“Nitrux is a Linux desktop distribution directly based on Debian. It uses the Calamares installer and includes NX Desktop and NX Firewall on top of the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment and MauiKit Applications.”

[Vistaus]

There's no way any KDE people have the resources to take on MS' legal team, as all concerned will be aware.

Stop that nonsese already! People always keep spreading that kind of FUD. It doesn't matter if KDE has 2 lawyers or 100 like Microsoft, the judge (and jury, if the case is handled in the US or Belgium) will base his/her decision based on what the law says. He/She's not going to favor Microsoft just because they have more lawyers.

[coder]

They should send a cease and desist letter to MS.

/s

Um, yeah. This already basically happened.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...osoft-KDE-MAUI

I don't think a C & D letter was involved, because that's something you do before filing a lawsuit. There's no way any KDE people have the resources to take on MS' legal team, as all concerned will be aware.

[Ananace]

Microsoft also have a UI framework called MAUI.

KDE - through blue systems if I remember correctly - holds the trademark to the name in regards to being a UI framework, so Microsoft will probably have to rebrand if they want to start selling anything using their framework.