[Tfug] Microsoft reportedly wants open source software users to pa y rolyalties

[christopher floess]

Furthermore, it would seem that a good way to prove this point is to start
looking at cvs records of some of this stuff. I mean really, if MS
claims ownership of something they have patented, I bet on at least some
of these claims we could look at cvs records and see that they didn't
come up with the innovation, simply the idea to patent them?

I don't know. Maybe there's a lot of speculation here. I just tend to think
that if MS had all great these inovations that people are "stealing", we'd
see a much better OS than Windows.

On 5/16/07, christopher floess <skeptikos at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ok, I can't help but think that any credibility of this patent
> infringement stuff is
> totally contingent on the fact that someone simply won
> the race to the patent office.
>
> Now, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the history of MS, but
> wasn't DOS
> kind of modeled after Unix? So MS takes the time to go to the patent
> office with
> stuff that was developed by people who don't bother to take the time to
> patent
> their stuff, and all of a sudden they are ones who one these ideas?
>
> I'm sure that it's more complex than this, but let's think about the
> software that
> has really contributed to shaping the world of computing the way we know
> it,
> for instance apache and sendmail. Aren't they open source, or at least not
>
> patented, and are we to say that MS hasn't benefited from seeing their
> source
> code? What about PHP, isn't it open source?
>
> For me this is just the strongest case against software patents
>
> On 5/16/07, Earl <earljviolet at juno.com> wrote:
> >
> > Micorsoft is just playing more of their games.  They do it a lot,
> > trying to scare people out of Linux.  I guess Linux is a threat to them
> > now, or at least they think so.
> >
> > If they get into court, I wonder whether Ms will have to prove that
> > their code contains no infringements.  I personally think that IBM
> > would love a chance to get Micosoft.
> >
> > It's all a joke but makes for good news.  Gives them something to write
> > about.
> >
> >
> > "God made man, Sam Colt made men equal."
> > "The fates guide him who will, him who won't they drag" Spengler
> >
> > -- Rich <r-lists at studiosprocket.com> wrote:
> > On May 15, 2007, at 1:44 pm, Shawn LaMaster wrote:
> >
> > > Microsoft reportedly wants open source software users to pay
> > > royalties on 235 alleged patent violations.
> > Here's the answer: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39663
> >
> >
> > The author of the Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) study that
> > Ballmer quoted says that it is typical for any piece of software to
> > *potentially* violate around 283 patents which haven't been tested in
> > court, and that the whole thing is so perfectly normal that it's
> > "boring".
> >
> > Just in case anyone thought it wasn't FUD...
> > R.
> >
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>
>
> --
> "Perhaps the most striking thing about Christopher Flöss is his utter
> contempt for work. Under constant employment throughout his adult life,
> Chris is intimately aware of the nefarious nature of work and an outspoken
> opponent of career apologism." ~ Chris Flöss (Quoting himself)




-- 
"Perhaps the most striking thing about Christopher Flöss is his utter
contempt for work. Under constant employment throughout his adult life,
Chris is intimately aware of the nefarious nature of work and an outspoken
opponent of career apologism." ~ Chris Flöss (Quoting himself)