Re: [tlug] Nice reply by Torvalds

["Josh Glover" <jmglov@example.com>]

On 17/05/07, Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com> wrote:

> The search costs are minimal;

I seriously doubt this, for all reasonable definitions of "minimal".
Has anyone reading this thread ever been involved in a patent search?
How much time, effort, and money did it take?

> there are plenty of patent holders out there
> who are happy to tell you if you're violating their patent.

And there are plenty more patents holders out there who would rather
you infringed on their patent so they can force you to licence it or
pay damages in court. You are aware that there are corporations
founded with one or two patents, just for the purpose of milking them,
right?

> I quite disagree. If free software died, I very much doubt that anybody
> with any political power would care, at least in the current social
> climate.

Several US states, most memorably Massachussetts, require that an Open
Source / Free Software solution be considered for every contract
opened for bidding. They also push FOSS (I hate that acronym, but who
wants to type Open Source / Free Software more than once an email?) in
government offices, mostly for open document formats.

Other countries have been even more aggressive in deploying FOSS
throughout their governments. Brazil, Germany, and New Zealand come to
mind.

-Josh