Paul G. Allen wrote:
So, an attack on Linux by nearly any given business is an attack on the
business itself as it would directly effect the Internet the way we know
it today. Note also that many of the possibly patents, etc. that
Microslut might go after are most likely used by other UNIX systems that
are also used to drive the Internet as well as a lot of networking
hardware.
Um, so? This kind of patent stuff exists even if we ignore Linux.
Most tech hardware companies engage in something called cross-licensing.
It's sort of mutually assured destruction involving patents. Each side
licenses the other side's patents for some nominal amount of money.
Then they are free to go after whatever targets they choose.
In this kind of instance, think about what a patent cross license
between Dell, Sun, Microsoft, and IBM, who all have lots of patents of
their own, would mean.
You would either have to buy Dell or Sun to run Linux or pay a large
licensing fee. They could simply stomp on RedHat and Novell.
It is this kind of thing that means that the GPLv3 is not just an
academic discussion.
Personally, I think that *all* patents need to disappear. The number of
small inventors who actually benefit from patents is minimal while the
big companies get to engage in sanctioned extortion.
-a
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