"The thing is, it seems there are examples of open source companies or developers folding when presented with the "whiff" of a patent suit."
Well, carry the logic out a bit further. $COMPANY threatens $TARGET vaguely with a patent lawsuit. There's two ways this can go: 1. $TARGET has patents important to $COMPANY 2. $TARGET does not. The post is about case 1. This has little relevance to case 2. The next step after threatening the open source developer is to file a suit, and even the slightest legal interaction will drain a disproportionate amount of time from an individual.
Well, carry the logic out a bit further. $COMPANY threatens $TARGET vaguely with a patent lawsuit. There's two ways this can go: 1. $TARGET has patents important to $COMPANY 2. $TARGET does not. The post is about case 1. This has little relevance to case 2. The next step after threatening the open source developer is to file a suit, and even the slightest legal interaction will drain a disproportionate amount of time from an individual.