Re: Regarding OOXML and Microsoft patents

[Miguel de Icaza <miguel ximian com>]

> > The problem is that the above url is far from being truthful.  You do
> > not have to go too far to find problems with it, starting with the
> > discussion that we were having on this forum regarding the Microsoft OSP
> > patent promise.   
> 
> I have issued with it, it is only for *required* parts which are
> *described in detail* and *not merely referenced*.

As I already mentioned, those pieces are tiny (the metafile images),
they are old, so any patents in there would expire and ODF depends on
those as well.

> > For one, the description on that page is at odds with the statements by
> > Larry Rosen on the license (I included it at the end of this message).
> > Rosen's statement is from November 2005, and reflects the pre-OSP
> > promise, but this is discussed in the above url, and considered a
> > non-starter which puts it at odds with Rosen's position.  
> 
> You're parroting Microsoft propaganda.

Instead of using an ad-hominem attack, you could point us why Larry
Rosen is wrong and you are right, his credentials seem pretty solid to
me:

        In addition to this law practice, Larry also served for many
        years as general counsel and secretary of the non-profit Open
        Source Initiative (OSI). He currently advises many open source
        companies and non-profit open source projects including Apache
        Software Foundation and the Python Software Foundation.  In
        2005-2006 he was a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School.
        
        [...]
        
        Larry's book, Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and
        Intellectual Property Law, was published by Prentice Hall in
        2004. 

Labeling inconvenient facts as propaganda is precisely the kind of
practice that I want to avoid.

> > Larry Rosen statement [2]
>  (snip)
> 
> It's been a long time since I *last* trusted Larry Rosen's words. This
> is just one more of his unthoughtful statements that led me to doubt
> such broad statements.

Then produce the legal council that contradicts Rosen.

Miguel.