I see nothing in the microsoft esp announcement about patents. It is simply Microsoft saying "we have a 3d world already done(from microsoft flight simulator) and if you want to write a simulation that uses it then we will license it to you" It seems microsoft is really emphasizing the amount of world content they have such as detailed reconstructions of cities and buildings around the world as well as physics engine and connectivity to mass market input output devices.
Both flight gear and x-plane and other 3d world systems offer the ability to tie in to external use of their 3d world displays for other purposes in the same way. There seems to be no specific patent claims mentioned anywhere in the announcement specific to the esp. Many companies have software patents - this specific announcement doesn't seem to increase or decrease the problem when writing software. On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 7:03 am, Stuart Buchanan wrote: > LeeE wrote: >> On Wednesday 28 November 2007 12:40, Jon S. Berndt wrote: >> > This is very interesting: >> > >> > http://www.microsoft.com/esp/ >> > http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2216455,00.asp >> > >> > Jon >> >> This _is_ interesting. >> >> FlightGear (and SimGear), as it (they) are, should be ok re patents >> because it (they) pre-date(s) MS-ESP. We might have to be careful >> about major re-designs or major new features though. > > <snip> > >> The troubling thing about MS-ESP is that it encroaches on our >> 'turf', > it will be proprietary in format and it will be tied to the MS > platforms >> and licencing. Hopefully though, it will be irrelevant to FG. > > > I think it is interesting, but I doubt there is anything for us to > worry about. In > fact we might feel flattered that MS have followed our lead in opening > up > the environment to external I/O ;) > > My take on this is that ESP is simply MS opening up the FS-X > environment > to new markets that want the graphical environment, but don't like > their FDM > (which isn't particularly surprising - from what I've heard the FDM > isn't much > to write home about). > > Given this, we don't need to worry any more about MS patents than we > did > before the announcement, i.e. hardly at all. All the I/O stuff they've > announced > is already present in FG. > > I think their target market is very much the big boys - this is > only available under volume-licensing, so no-one is going to be buying > this > just to have a play around with it. I guess what is much more likely is > that some > simulator manufacturers will be looking at this for their eye-candy > rather > than developing it in-house. > > Academia is another market, but that is one in which FG should be able > to > offer a much better solution. > > In fact, this might be quite an opportunity for FG - there is the > chance to market > ourselves as an open alternative to MS-ESP. > > -Stuart > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. > Try it > now. > http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > SF.Net email is sponsored by: The Future of Linux Business White Paper > from Novell. From the desktop to the data center, Linux is going > mainstream. Let it simplify your IT future. > http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/8857-50307-18918-4 > _______________________________________________ > Flightgear-devel mailing list > Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel www.GlobalBoiling.com for daily images about hurricanes, globalwarming and the melting poles. www.ElectricQuakes.com daily solar and earthquake images. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is sponsored by: The Future of Linux Business White Paper from Novell. From the desktop to the data center, Linux is going mainstream. Let it simplify your IT future. http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/8857-50307-18918-4 _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
