[Fsfe-ie] Can this be true?? Linux migration stopped....

[Barry Mahon]

On Thu, 05 Aug 2004 11:53:46 +0100, Aidan Delaney <adelaney at cs.may.ie> wrote:

> Ian,
> On Thu, 2004-08-05 at 11:39 +0100, Ian Clarke wrote:
>> While this has obvious benefits in terms of highlighting the practical
>> dangers of software patents, I have some concerns about it.  The logic
>> behind this could be used to call into question *any* software
>> deployment, open source or not.  This risks creating the misleading
>> impression that software patents are only a threat to open source
>> software development, when in reality they are a threat to *all*
>> software development.
> If I restate your point in terms of my argument, I believe it makes my
> argument stronger.  There exist companies that own large bodies of
> software patents (hypothetically speaking if sw-pat's are passed).  You
> will not be able to use software from anyone except this cabal or you
> risk getting sued.  Thus sw-pat don't help competition and actually
> hinder it.  This has always been a strong argument against sw-pat, now
> we have an actual case study.

Yep, that is why I (maybe misleadingly) added a ? If this one wins we are all in the sh..

It is just like the DMCA issue vis a vis IPR in the media area. The content of the DMCA was heavy influenced by big IPR holders who want to extend their 'rights'

BTW I saw on the same Register that HP have launched a Linux based laptop, so there's hope....

Bye, Barry