[slashdev]

> Time and time again "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" can work until one enemy is vanquished.

That is partly true, but in this case the patent troll is not vanquished and so doesn't apply.

Often competition is not that cutthroat. It's not usually a zero sum game. There are definitely outcomes where your competitors even add net value by legitimizing the market, educating potential customers, providing a source of ideas, etc. My general philosophy here is the world is big enough for all of us, I don't treat it as war, and don't seek to crush competitors - I seek to make my users and employees happy. That's it. Being competitor focused is an error, at least in a high margin business.

> In WW2 Stalin initially made a pact with Hitler while all the while knowing Hitler would violate it and invade anyway.

By accounts I've seen, Stalin was genuinely surprised and caught off guard by the invasion.

Not sure how this thread turned to Hitler so quickly. What's that internet law called?