And now a blast from the past,
Posted on 05/13/2007 4:05:27 PM PDT by Zakeet
I think they're overextended in their promises, and I wouldn't be too surprised to someday see a billboard requesting "Will the last person to leave Redmond please turn out the lights?"
(Not really -- if Microsoft implodes we'll see a ton of spinoffs.)
MSFT should be careful. IBM has a large pocket portfolio, very deep pockets, and lots to lose if MSFT is allowed to bully FOSS with silly patent litigation.
Microsoft is now just a legal firm and government lobbying group that happens to sell software and technical support on the side to supplement their corporate income.
***Good enough place to bump the thread for later reading.
That would end Microsoft's business model. MSFT is playing with fire here.
I have always thought so too. Am I missing something?
because it was the algorthim that was patented, not the bits.
~~~~~~~~~~~
IS this true? I can’t beleive they would issue a patent for an algorithm. That’s like copywrighting the table of contents of a book, but not the chapters or the text. It defies logic. Doesn’t it?
I’m sure I read somewhere recently that the home computer division of IBM is now chinese owned and that starting in november of this year, no new IBM home PC will be shipped with any microsoft products installed. I also read somewhere that the EU is at odds with MS and is fining them billions of dollars for anti-trust type stuff, I think. Also, I think I read that Linux is now mandriva and is mostly a french thing now and that germany has already banned MS from government buildings.
I think I read somewhere also that google is working on it’s own operating system.
I can’t remember where I read any of this. Can anyone verify any of this? It’s all from memory and kinda fuzzy.
IIRC, the Windows NT kernel beginning with Win2k can address up to 4 TB of memory.
It's called a "kernel panic". On the Mac, it's usually a sign of defective RAM, probably an aftermarket third-party installation. Linux can also experience kernel panics. For Microsoft, the situation is called the Blue Screen of Death.
In general, Linux is least likely to experience these problems. It's slightly more common on Macs. Windows is most likely to have the problem occur.
In your case, the problem is probably due to old defective font files that were installed improperly.
a good friend of mine just got a new computer....she needed one badly....and she isn’t very computer literate....she, of course, got one with VISTA.....she HATES IT!
Sure, it seems they will patent just about anything, even business processes. Amazon got a famous patent on their "One-Click Ordering". Basically because of that, no other e-commerce web site can store a customer's billing information and process an order for an item by allowing the customer to only click one button. Without paying Amazon a royalty, that is.
See Wikipedia Software Patent
To quote a section of it:
"Patents cover the underlying methodologies embodied in a given piece of software, or the function that the software is intended to serve, independent of the particular language or code that the software is written in. Copyright prevents the direct copying of some or all of a particular version of a given piece of software, but do not prevent other authors from writing their own embodiments of the underlying methodologies."
And another related Wikipedia link: Software Patents Under US Patent Law
This article has an interesting tidbit:
"The Clinton administration appointed Bruce Lehman as Commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office in 1994. Unlike his predecessors, Lehman was not a patent lawyer but the chief lobbyist for the Software Publishing Industry. In 1995, the PTO established some broad guidelines for examining and issuing software patents."
But I'm sure the Linux Lefties will blame Bush....
(Note: That doesn't imply that ALL Linux users are lefties, but there does seem to be a group of free software advocates that are also communists.)
That is true.
Also, I think I read that Linux is now mandriva and is mostly a french thing
There are many 'distributions' of Linux, Mandriva being one. Many developers all over the world continually working on different aspects of Linux or Linux applications. Another, Ubuntu, is very popular now. It's one of the most user friendly but there are some security concerns with it. If you want to casually play around with Linux, I'd suggest Ubuntu although it is sickeningly PC!
They need to nullify all those patents, imo. Otherwise, I could get a patent on simple logic.
Someone could theoretically patent the process of trading stocks and then demand a royalty on every profit made on wall street. Right?
What if I patented the practice of calling ahead to book a motel room and then demanded a royalty on every room reservation in every motel in the country?
What if I patented the food pyramid and then demanded a royalty from everyone that ate healthy?
What if I patented the technique of lacing up shoes and then demanded a royalty on every shoe lace made from now till doomsday?
What if I patented the curve ball or the hail mary and demanded royalties everytime these techniques were used?
You are correct; one can patent or copyright anything these days. For example:
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
No, because that's not what they are saying. Patents are on things like software algorithms - it wouldn't matter if you wrote the source code for a certain algorithm from scratch, on your own, with no other references. If that algorithm is patented, you would need to license it from the owner of the patent.
For example, Microsoft was granted a patent on the FAT file system, a format for storing data files on disk (http://news.com.com/Microsofts+file+system+patent+upheld/2100-1012_3-6025447.html).
If Linux contains code that reads and writes from a FAT file system, it may be in violation of that patent. It's not saying Linux "stole" the code from MS. Even if it was written from scratch, it is implementing algorithms that have been patented.
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