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OSDL & Linux in the Enterprise

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the picard-is-a-way-better-cto-than-kirk dept.

Barry's uncle writes "vnunet.com has an interesting interview with William Weinberg of the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL), talking about new Linux trends, challenges and security."

1 of 5 comments (clear)

  1. Correct me if I'm wrong.... by ChaseTec · · Score: 4, Informative

    There have been reports of Microsoft using its patents against open source. What is your view on this?

    Of the two I know about in a little detail, one of them is the Fat file system patent, ...

    On the Fat side, Microsoft has been attempting to play hardball. The information I have from the industry is [that] there is so much prior art and so many implementations of Fat-compatible file systems on different operating systems, Microsoft will have a hard time claiming they have ever enforced these patents - and thereby at this point in time restrict Linux use of that file system.

    But Microsoft enforcement of the FAT patents has nothing to do with an OS using a FAT filesystem. It only has to do with shipping a device that already contains a FAT filesystem. A compact flash card for example. Take a look at FAT File System Technology and Patent License

    --
    My Hello World is 512 bytes. But it's also a valid Fat12 boot sector, Fat12 file reader, and Pmode routine.