Software Patents won't force you to remove Linux, they will force the developers to not be able to put certain idea's into their programs. The concept is completely archaic. Of course copyright laws are susposed to protect distribution of material, but people still do - one could say copyright laws is what created pirates. I think with the lunacy of software patents, a lot more programmers will just be working under psudonyms, and writing illegal code and using anonymous networks like Entrophy and Freenet to distribute them. The same applies for the threat of Open Source becoming "illegal" in the United States.