[Ilugc] Re: about linux GUI development
- From: arvindn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Arvind Narayanan)
- Date: Sat Jul 3 16:13:21 2004
On Fri, Jul 02, 2004 at 06:17:34PM +0530, Sivasankar Chander wrote:
... and Microsoft is patenting double-clicks, taskbar grouping, etc
.... with some point of time patenting the usage of computer itself.
My question is whether we (GNOME, KDE, WMs) have to pay to Microsoft
as a result of these patents?
Taskbar grouping has prior art in CDE, etc. Microsoft used it only
in Windows 95, so that patent will get thrown out on challenge, which
the EFF will definitely do.
Apart from that, any software company using patents offensively is
committing *suicide* because they're opening the door for everyone else
to sue them for the patents that *they* infringe on.
So the ironic thing is, OSS has nothing to fear from Microsoft's patents.
On the other hand, MS might exploit proxies like SCO to do the dirty
work; SCO doesn't care about being sued because it doesn't have a product
and is entirely dependent on litigation.
For all we know, Microsoft may be secretly funding an unknown company to
build up a patent portfolio (similar to what they did with SCO) and suddenly
unleash a torrent of lawsuits against linux developers. That's the real
threat.
Arvind
--
Q: Do you ever think about quantum computing?
Linus: I think that's a load of bull.
(From a Linux Lunacy cruise interview. After the presumptuous disparagement
of QC, Linus goes on to confuse it with DNA computing.)
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