Stop Microsoft

All Things Microsoft => Microsoft as a Company => Topic started by: mobrien_12 on 9 December 2003, 00:35

Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: mobrien_12 on 9 December 2003, 00:35
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34391.html (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34391.html)
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: WMD on 9 December 2003, 00:52
quote:
MS Patents: weapons against linux?


Yes, of course.  Haven't you read the Halloween documents?  ;)
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: Refalm on 9 December 2003, 19:51
quote:
WMD: Yes, of course.  Haven't you read the Halloween documents?  ;)


Halloween Documents (http://www.opensource.org/halloween/), mainly by Eric Raymond who lives in the Netherlands and kinda invented Sendmail.
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: Calum on 10 December 2003, 01:53
does ESR live in the netherlands? how cool! and i thought he was in charge of fetchmail, rather than sendmail, or am i just getting confused?
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: flap on 10 December 2003, 02:06
According to his site Raymond lives in Pennsylvania. And Eric Allman wrote sendmail.
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: Claris on 8 January 2004, 06:38
I thought that in order to get a patent you actually had to have your own ideas...
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: WMD on 10 January 2004, 00:05
quote:
Originally posted by Claris:
I thought that in order to get a patent you actually had to have your own ideas...


No, you just have to have an idea that no one else patented already.  :mad:
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: flap on 10 January 2004, 00:44
No, if the idea already exists it's prior art and can't be patented by someone else. It doesn't have to have been patented previously to be unpatentable.
Title: MS Patents: weapons against linux?
Post by: WMD on 10 January 2004, 01:26
quote:
Originally posted by flap:
No, if the idea already exists it's prior art and can't be patented by someone else.


Ah, but MS doesn't seem to think so.  :(