[Discuss] MS's patent pledge + commentary

[Thor Heinrichs-Wolpert]

So let me understand the logic.

Yesterday you would get your butt sued off if you violated a M$ patent.  Possibly tomorrow you can still get your butt sued off if you use a M$ patent.

You feel cheated that in essence ... nothing has changed.

Now II could start to argue that the Apache license is more open than the GPL which has been co-opted by dual-license schemes like mySQL uses, or leveraged to keep non-certified jBoss users from profiting ...

Seems like a lot of worry and gnashing of teeth over a position that some believe hasn't changed.  If you want to do FOSS, then don't implement anyone's patent ... or set up yourself in the EU, or elsewhere that patents aren't recognized until the whole patent thing is re-worked.

It wasn't too long ago that the US was threatened and cajouled by Europe to support copyright, which they violated and made millions off of refusing to enforce.  Now China is in that spot, and others will follow.

So educate and elucidate, but its hard for me to get so negatively excited when nothing really has changed for me, since I already have to avoid patents of M$ and others in my code, which becomes harder every day.

Thor HW


-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at vlug.org on behalf of Alan W. Irwin
Sent: Thu 11/9/2006 12:48 PM
To: discuss at vlug.org
Subject: [Discuss] MS's patent pledge + commentary
 
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061109111321376

Alan
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Alan W. Irwin

Astronomical research affiliation with Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Victoria (astrowww.phys.uvic.ca).

Programming affiliations with the FreeEOS equation-of-state implementation
for stellar interiors (freeeos.sf.net); PLplot scientific plotting software
package (plplot.org); the Yorick front-end to PLplot (yplot.sf.net); the
Loads of Linux Links project (loll.sf.net); and the Linux Brochure Project
(lbproject.sf.net).
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