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"Intellectual property (IP) is something the free software community takes very, very seriously," he argues in an interview with Linux-Watch.

"There is a perception that free software is somehow riding on the coattails of the real industry or somehow avoids intellectual property laws."

However, Shuttleworth points to the GPL as evidence of how seriously open-source proponents approach the thorny licensing issue, noting that "All these licenses are based on copyright law."

The Ubuntu guru also responds to Ballmer's argument that open source stagnates innovation as it is built on existing IP rather than breaking new ground. "There is a tremendous amount of innovation that happens in the open-source community. It is not simply duplicating other companies' intellectual property research. The reality is quite the reverse," he says, citing the example of Internet Explorer 7 which followed in <

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Firefox's footsteps by introducing tabbed browsing and search bars.

"Today, real IP is created by open-source developers around the globe instead of the best and brightest you can hire and put on your campus," he claims.

Put up or shut up

Shuttleworth also echoes the community line on Microsoft's patent claims asking the company to either show the 235 patents that open-source software allegedly infringes or simply drop the claims.

"Ballmer is saying that Linux is not a safe neighborhood for users. He's implying that simply using open source is somehow dangerous. It needs to back off on those claims. They're simply not true. Microsoft must actually state what the infringements are."

Intrugingly, he goes on to suggest that despite appearances the two worlds actually have common ground, including a common enemy.

"Microsoft and open source both have the same interest to create a level IP platform. The patent system is not good for anyone. It's not good for Microsoft. It's not good for the little inventor next door. It's not good for FOSS [free and open-source software].

"Companies that make money by doing nothing but holding on to patents until someone creates a useful program are the real problem. It's these patent trolls that are dangers to both."