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Red Hat Makes Patent Promise

colonel writes "In a followup to an earlier story about Red Hat filing for software patents, a "promise" has appeared on RedHat's website stating that they do not intend to pursue patents against software licensed under a specific set of licenses. It's not binding in perpetuity, and some licenses are notably absent in the list of approved licences, like the LGPL. But, at least Red Hat's made their intentions clear now."

12 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Hump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hmup

  2. fourth post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Kiss Sarah for me, you monkey boy.

    1. Re:fourth post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Yeah I'll even fuck her for you, u can lick the cum later tho.

  3. penis post by anigwei · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    :D

  4. Re:First and second by robtm · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    No, we're just stunned by this 'news' and don't know what to write.

  5. excess begets greed begets greed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    don't forget to reference this eXamPle of how "our" gov't. is (not) dealing with ill eagle accouNTing FraUDs/pateNTdead en4cers. george&billy are couNTing on/forcing you, to be afraid/apathetic/compliaNT.

  6. What by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    What a bunch of bithces. Only those fags at redhat would patent combining dynamic and static material. What a joke.

  7. Thanb you, Red Hat. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    First, let me apologise. Somebody has stolen my ( bey (you know, AK() and made my k bey type b and my b bey type k. So my beykord is all fu(bed up and when I find out who did this I'm gonna pun(h them in the fa(e.

    Okviously, Red Hat's position on patents is patent first, asb questions later. They're a (ommercial enterprise, after all, and kusiness is kusiness. I thinb that they should be lauded for their approa(h towards beeping patents in the same (ategory as the software they're pa(baging, even if su(h an attempt (annot ke total. What's an alternative that doesn't sukje(t our (ommunity to some risb or unfairly punish Red Hat? I libe Seth Finblestein's idea of having an organization to assign patents to in beeping with the spirit of the GPL, and thinb that it might ke one way of (oming (loser to the goal of mabing patents 'freer', kut it still entails some risb. This seems libe the safest way for a (orporation to (ontrikute to our ideals without keing unfairly put at risb themselves.

  8. [OFFTOPIC] Big banners by tunah · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Am I the only one who just got a giant (double size) banner at the top of the page?

    --
    Free Java games for your phone: Tontie, Sokoban
  9. Re:First and second by Rob+Malda+on · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Maybe you should consider posting as logged in user .. not as ANONYMOUS COWARD

  10. I'm afraik I have prior art. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
  11. UnitedLinux, Caldera, Suse, Conectiva, TurboLinux by grandmofftarkin · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    Okay this is off topic but a press release has been issued regarding UnitedLinux , the joint distro of Caldera, Suse, Conectiva, TurboLinux and I'm sure all you RedHat fans will be interested.

    Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, Turbolinux Partner To Create UnitedLinux, And Produce A Uniform Version Of Linux For Business Majority of enterprise system and software vendors including AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP, support effort to create standard Linux platform

    LINDON, Utah, PARAISO, Brazil, NUREMBERG, Germany, and BRISBANE, Calif. -May 30, 2002- Linux Industry leaders Caldera International, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALD), Conectiva S.A., SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc., today announced the organization of UnitedLinux, a new initiative that will streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux designed for business. UnitedLinux addresses enterprise customers' need for a standard, business-focused Linux distribution that is certified to work across hardware and software platforms, accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise. Under terms of the agreement, the four companies will collaborate on the development of one common core Linux operating environment, called UnitedLinux software. The four partners will each bundle value added products and services with the UnitedLinux operating system and the resulting offering will be marketed and sold by each of the four partners under their own brands.

    Nearly every vendor supplying a piece of the technology infrastructure used by businesses has expressed support for UnitedLinux, including systems and software vendors AMD, Borland, Computer Associates, Fujitsu Siemens, Fujitsu Japan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, and SAP. Independent hardware and software vendors spend considerable effort certifying their products and services on individual Linux distributions to ensure product compatibility for their customers. UnitedLinux will significantly diminish the number of distributions that vendors are asked to certify and will provide a true standards-based Linux operating environment.

    Customers Benefit Through Unity
    According to research firm IDC, a 2001 survey of 800 North American and Western European companies found that 40% of the respondents were either using or testing Linux in their organizations. UnitedLinux will help further speed enterprise adoption of Linux by providing businesses with a greater choice in the number of applications and hardware certified to work on the uniform version of Linux. Customers will also benefit from the global sales, localization, education, support and services that all four UnitedLinux vendors will collectively provide. The collaboration of the four leading Linux companies will result in an enterprise Linux offering, which is truly global by virtue of the companies' ability to provide local language support, training and professional services, in addition to the support of strategic partners. UnitedLinux will provide one unified Linux code base for IBM's complete eServer product line and AMD 32-bit and 64-bit platform and Intel's x86 32-bit and Itanium(tm) processor family platforms. UnitedLinux supports LSB, Li18nux, and GB18030 standards, as well as enabling installations in English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese languages.

    In addition UnitedLinux unleashes a massive research and development organization for Linux in the enterprise. Effectively, the four companies involved in this process will shift dollars and resources once allocated to creating and maintaining custom Linux operating environments and divert them to new R&D on Linux enterprise software. UnitedLinux is dedicated to bolstering the enterprise readiness of the platform, but in the same collaborative spirit from which Linux was founded and continues to flourish.

    Participation and Availability
    While today's announcement outlines the founding members of UnitedLinux, the initiative is open for additional Linux companies to participate. The four partners currently plan to each offer their own server products based on UnitedLinux by the end of 2002. For additional information on UnitedLinux, contact Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE or Turbolinux or go to www.unitedlinux.com.

    About UnitedLinux
    UnitedLinux is a standards-based, worldwide Linux solution targeted at the business user and developed by Caldera, Conectiva, SuSE, and Turbolinux. Designed to be an enterprise-class, industry-standard Linux operating system, UnitedLinux provides a single stable, uniform platform for application development, certification, and deployment, and allows Linux vendors, Independent Software Vendors, Independent Hardware Vendors, and Original Equipment Makers to support a single high value Linux offering. For more information, go to www.unitedlinux.com