Lineo Pays To License Real-Time Linux Capability

An Anonymous Coward writes: "Embedded linux vendor Lineo has apparently caved in to Victor Yodaiken, and become the first software company to publicly announce the licensing of Yodaiken's patented process for running a general purpose operating system (such as Linux) as a task under a real-time kernel(such as RTLinux or RTAI)."

There's a special report at LinuxDevices which includes . . .

• text of the Lineo press release
• comments from Victor Yodaiken
• news of a non-patented open source alternative ("Adeos")
• a reference list about RTLinux and the RTLinux patent
• a whitepaper about Adeos

There's an interesting quote where Yodaiken claims his patent will help open source."

Comments

Is this a bad thing?

[Foggy Tristan]

Maybe I'm a little naive, but it seems like the patent basically makes any attempt to cash in on the technology null and void, essentially keeping free software free.

I could an uproar if Victor was charging for the license, but he's explicitly not charging it for, and I can see where that would be beneficial.

Patents are a tool. In the wrong hands, they hurt; in the right hands, they don't.