Today, Red Hat let loose on Microsoft for allegedly auctioning off some of its patents to "trolls and some other non-practicing entitites," and for using marketing materials that highlighted offensive uses of the patents against open-source software, "including a number of the most popular open-source packages."

Red Hat called Microsoft's auction a "classic FUD effort." Microsoft was using its patents as weapons to target specific open-source products, and then would "stand back and wait" for the FUD effect to take hold. Red Hat and the Open Invention Network (OIN) countered the perceived threat by obtaining 22 of the patents.

Red Hat applauded Microsoft's recent involvement with the open-source community, including its donation of Hyper-V drivers to the Linux community. But it questioned Microsoft's "true colors" and laid out a damning case against the company.

"It sued Tom Tom using questionable patents that targeted Linux and has sought to use the alleged strength of its public patents to twist the arms of its clients and partners under the cloak of a confidentiality agreement-imposed secrecy blanket. This latest attempt to encourage patent aggression by trolls against FOSS further shows that Microsoft is not yet committed to the path of peace with the open-source software community and appears intent on inappropriately preserving and extending its dominant market positions in the operating system and personal productivity suites," Red Hat wrote in its blog.

Red Hat is absolutely correct in its view that those actions undermine Microsoft's move to be more open-source friendly. Microsoft has been pragmatic toward open source over the past several years and has engaged with open-source projects that help it further its business goals. It has also released some of its own open-source code and has invested in its CodePlex hosting site. There's nothing wrong with any of that; Microsoft is a business and should be looking after the interests of its shareholders.

Being a bad actor against open-source software while claiming to be an advocate is just not kosher. It makes Microsoft appear insincere and disingenuous, and that's being charitable.