Samba creator takes stand in Microsoft case

Once a year, he said, top software programmers from rival software companies from around the world gather at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose, California, for what they term a "plugfest."

The engineers bring computers and the software programs they are working on and literally plug them together to see how their programs interoperate. "We work around the clock for a week. We torture our machines in the pursuit of interoperability," he told a rapt courtroom.

"Can you do this test with Microsoft?" Judge Cooke asked.

"Yes, but they don't turn up," Tridgell said.