[Mono-list] Patents are coming...

Juli Mallett jmallett@FreeBSD.org
Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:02:14 -0600


* De: Pablo Baena <pbaena@uol.com.ar> [ Data: 2003-02-11 ]
	[ Subjecte: Re: [Mono-list] Patents are coming... ]
> I don't think this will be negative at all. No matter what Perens said,
> a Microsoft bad move in this respect would simply undermine all their
> efforts to promote .NET, the open source crowd will simply move on to
> use other technologies (I know I would, .NET has some really nice stuff,
> but nothing that I can't live without or can't work around). Microsoft
> doesn't really have something original here, other technologies already
> exist that can be used instead of .NET.
> 
> Relax...

As far as I can tell (I didn't look TOO much, due to the FUD surrounding
such issues, in general) it's just a matter of them patenting implementation
details that allow them to sell the platform, more or less.  Important things
to their implementation, to satisfy their contingents, etc., but nothing that
would come in the way of e.g. Mono.  It'd be like if I wrote a wholly new
kernel, from a ideology paradigm, and standardised the ideology and interfaces,
but patented parts of my implementation that were exceptionally clever, and
would be enough to help fund further development.

Mono can live fine with things it has avoided from the start i.e. using snazzy
implementation details similar to what MS uses which have always been good
candidates for a patent.

Jeez, I rant.

Thanx,
juli. 
-- 
Juli Mallett <jmallett@FreeBSD.org>
AIM: BSDFlata -- IRC: juli on EFnet
OpenDarwin, Mono, FreeBSD Developer
ircd-hybrid Developer, EFnet addict
FreeBSD on MIPS-Anything on FreeBSD