Re: [Evolution] "Mark all as Read" - Query.

[Rob Walker <rob myinternetplace net>]

On Thu, 2002-04-18 at 13:41, Janus Christensen wrote:
> On Thu, 2002-04-18 at 05:32, Rob Brown-Bayliss wrote:
>
> > Yeah, for me vFolders are why evolution exists, might not be the real
> > reason but think they are the best thing.  I expect to hear of
> > Microsoft's "new innovative virtual folders for outlook" any day now ;o)
>
> MS Lookout has something called "Views" which allows you to set up
> filters on messages and such, but they are rather limited (read:
> useless) because they only work on a single folder, not across several
> folders.
>
> But, yeah, I guess one shouldn't be surprised if Microsoft steals the
> idea. Maybe Ximian should patent the concept?

Yes!  Yes!  I was going to suggest this when I first found that
Evolution did something that another application didn't do.  

I think that software patents are a very yucky thing, and are being used
in a very bad way.  However, if it is good for the goose, it is good for
the gander, and a I think a good use of software patents would be to
secure the use of technology to open source software.  It is a shame
that they (restriction of the flow of information via legal means, aka
software patents) must be used, but I think they are needed to keep
software available.


> OTOH, if MS uses its patents in SMB/CIFS with the express purpose of
> denying the Open Source community that functionality, why shouldn't the
> Open Source community turn the tables on them? A suitable add-on to the
> Evolution license stating something like, "Anybody Microsoft is allowed
> to use concepts, ideas, etc covered by patent no. ..."

To paraphrase in the way I feel it, "Since the software patent system is
so messed up, we who want to secure software for use by many need to be
more aggressive than everyone else, to secure those rights for many
using whatever legal means we have at our disposal."

I for one would love to see Open Source software patents, with 
licensing being free for other Open Source software, and costly (a free
cross license grant to open source projects comes to mind) for non-Open
Source software.

rob