"Fielding a question"..."on the impact to Red Hat's business of Microsoft's claims 235 of its patents exist around Linux, Szulik uttered words that'll have pundits sifting for meaning or a change of policy"...

What's to sift?

"Look, guys, you keep asking us this question and frankly it's getting boring. Our stance *still* hasn't changed since yesterday. Or the day before. Or the day before that. If it helps, let me phrase it in my best Managese..."

Here's the translation: "MS are talking FUD. If they were truly interested in interoperability, then they'd come to the table wanting to agree standards with Linux companies - at which point we'd be delighted to talk. As it is, they're just looking to tie up interoperability into NDAs and a patent trap - same old same old. So we hereby call their bluff".

Seems perfectly clear to me.

C