Re: patents list is a bad idea (Was: patents)

["Curtis C. Hovey" <sinzui cox net>]

On Sat, 2004-02-07 at 18:58, Xavier Bestel wrote:
> Le sam 07/02/2004 à 18:45, Curtis C. Hovey a écrit :
> > On Fri, 2004-02-06 at 23:04, Jonathan Turner wrote:
> > > I noticed there was some talk on IRC about file browsing patents.  Is 
> > > there a list of patents that nautilus is trying to avoid somewhere? 
> > > (besides the obvious "at the patent office")
> > 
> > A list is a good idea, but where to put it?
> 
> A patents list is an extremely bad idea: it means you'll have tons of
> patents (some even not enforceable) that you'll have not to infringe in
> code you want to distribute in the US. Basically everything is patented,
> so the coding session in akin to bike-riding in a minefield.
> Take the same approach than the linux kernel developers: don't care
> about patents, just code. Whenever/if some company starts to annoy you
> with their patent on moving mouse cursor (or whatever else), you can say
> you didn't know (it's very important that you can prove your good faith)
> and then you code a workaround.

I don't think the list is a bad idea.  The list I presented mocked the
patents.  We don't have spring loaded folders in the official Nautilus
distribution because of a US patent; sorry rest of the world.  But we do
have a emblems, thumbnails, and a taskbar, all patented, and all in the
official distribution for the whole world to use.

The ignorance defense does what?  Lets GNOME use the patent anyway? I
think not.  Spring loaded folders are often proposed, and even exists in
code, because most of the contributors are ignorant of the patents.  But
your words (not you) seem to imply that if one person knows better than
we cannot make a sensible desktop.  Ignorance doesn't absolve the
creator or the distributor.

Since everything is patented as you assert, why should anyone wish to
contribute to any open source software.  'Good faith' is a dubious legal
argument when there is no documentation of research to demonstrated good
faith was taken.  And a policy of patent ignorance to proved an argument
of 'good faith', is itself 'bad faith'.  Ignorance be damned.  We should
just build what works, and remove features are come under dispute.

A list of patents will direct developers to problems that need
innovative solutions.

-- 
__C U R T I S  C.  H O V E Y____________________
sinzui cox net
Guilty of stealing everything I am.