[Mono-list] Uncertainty and Doubt about MONO

[R. Tyler Ballance]

On Nov 4, 2006, at 7:56 PM, Jonathan Pryor wrote:

> *Where* did Novell admit anything similar to this?  To paraphrase the
> SCO case, provide file & line numbers for confirmation. :-)
>
> Microsoft & Novell only appear to have signed a statement saying that
> neither company will sue the other companies customers over *any*
> patents.  This would likely apply to Novell Netware and eDirectory as
> much as it applies to openSUSE.

Forgive me for being naive, but regardless of the IP status of Mono,  
or any of the Novell products, how on earth does the legality of  
their product come under the realm of my responsibility, to where I  
can be held liable for using their products, notably, Mono?

Say I'm implementing a completely cross-platform solution that uses  
the .NET runtime on the Windows platform, and the Mono runtime  
everywhere else, if there is any liable intellectual property in the  
Mono runtime, how on earth am I (as a customer of Novell, and someone  
who merely uses the Mono runtime) in any legal danger?


To use to a physical metaphor, say I buy these special receding  
screws from MiguelCo Construction Supplies, and I build numerous  
houses/buildings with said receding screws (since MiguelCo's receding  
screws are cheaper, and work with more types of material), if further  
down the line its discovered that MiguelCo's receding screws are  
really a take-off on GatesCorp's design (which are far more  
expensive, and only work in redwood indigenous to the pacific  
northwest), legally, how can I even be included in any sort of  
litigation?

All I did was build something that uses legitimate (to the best of my  
knowledge) tools and materials? Predict doom as much as you want  
about a Novell/Microsoft partnership, but how does their IP somehow  
damn my products that base off of theirs?


That said, maybe Microsoft will be a bit more forthcoming with some  
of the features/specifications that are needed to have proper .NET  
2.0 class library compatibility....or they'll just sue us all ;)


Cheers

R. Tyler Ballance: Lead Mac Developer at bleep. software
contact: tyler at bleepsoft.com | jabber: tyler at jabber.geekisp.com


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