The Linus/GregKH attitude might work because it's the Linux kernel. It's almost irreplaceable for those who are using it, it has a huge developer community, it has many corporate sponsors to back up those developers, etc. It's not at all clear that the same approach would work for another project without those things. The way Linux kernel developers make such assumptions and pronouncements reminds me a lot of the way some people talk about social issues from a highly privileged position - utterly blind to the reality for those in different circumstances.
As I immediately reacted on Twitter, I think lawsuits are a lot like nukes. Using them might always be terrible, but their absence negates all leverage in any other kind of negotiation. That includes the kind of negotiation that Greg K-H talks about. In those negotiations, he still benefits from the kind of enforcement he himself eschews. Those who live under an umbrella shouldn't dump on the people holding it up IMO, as the LF stalwarts are doing in their attempts to defend their turf.
Disclosure: I work for Red Hat, which as a company and a community has probably held just about every possible position on this issue - often simultaneously.
I know of one case where Red Hat countersued a patent troll over a GPL violation. It was a pretty good illustration of the "nuclear deterrent" effect that such litigation can have. I'm not aware of any cases where Red Hat has brought any original suits of this nature, but then again I probably wouldn't be even if they did exist.
As I immediately reacted on Twitter, I think lawsuits are a lot like nukes. Using them might always be terrible, but their absence negates all leverage in any other kind of negotiation. That includes the kind of negotiation that Greg K-H talks about. In those negotiations, he still benefits from the kind of enforcement he himself eschews. Those who live under an umbrella shouldn't dump on the people holding it up IMO, as the LF stalwarts are doing in their attempts to defend their turf.
Disclosure: I work for Red Hat, which as a company and a community has probably held just about every possible position on this issue - often simultaneously.