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How Mono got into FedoraHow Mono got into FedoraPosted Apr 13, 2006 4:37 UTC (Thu) by mhw (guest, #13931)Parent article: How Mono got into Fedora
Increased peace of mind is not necessarily a step in the right direction; not if it lures us into a patent trap.
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How Mono got into Fedora Posted Apr 13, 2006 17:51 UTC (Thu) by jzbiciak (✭ supporter ✭, #5246) [Link] It's the "Mutually Assured Destruction" approach. As long as the other guy isn't disarming, it's best we arm ourselves.
This shouldn't be our ONLY approach. I honestly think we should pursue software patents ourselves in the free software world (and licensing those patents freely for use in free software), AND pursue disallowing most kinds of software patents.
Getting patents Posted Apr 14, 2006 14:57 UTC (Fri) by dwheeler (guest, #1216) [Link] Actually, that's already being done. Red Hat in particular gets patents and releases them for use in Free Software.But most people who write Free Software are either in companies that are not exclusively Free Software companies or they are students. Companies practically always own patents of any of their employees. Shockingly, universities have managed a land grab and can often claim ownership of their student's ideas, at least in the U.S. (Yes, that's reprehensible.) What's worse, patent applications are expensive. That means that very few in the Free Software world can actually get patents exclusively for Free Software.
How Mono got into Fedora Posted Apr 18, 2006 7:00 UTC (Tue) by ekj (guest, #1524) [Link] Sadly this approach has no effect whatsoever on patent-trolls which I'm thinking are going to be the main actors in suing over claimed patents.If you make nothing, produce zero, has no products, infact consist as a company of nothing more whatsoever except a bunch of lawyers and a few patents, then even the biggest portofolio in the world of patents from which to "counter-sue" will help precisely not at all.
How Mono got into Fedora Posted Apr 18, 2006 14:35 UTC (Tue) by liljencrantz (guest, #28458) [Link] Absolutely true, which is why it is _critical_ that OIN is not the _only_ line of defence against patents.
One shopuld also keep in mind that if Company A wishes to destroy open source product B, which is protectedby OIN, all company A has to do is spin of a new company C, which can then buy a patent related to B, and use this to crush B.
Even so, an organization like OIN is still a very powerful defence against most patent abuse.
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