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Why Consider Linux Kernel Patent Risks?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-think-about dept.

chromatic writes "After the hoopla about OSRM's study of patent risks in the Linux kernel, I talked to Dan Ravicher, the patent attorney and free software afficionado who conducted the study. Contrary to my initial reaction, I've come to believe that the study is actually very valuable. Linux and Patent Risks on the O'Reilly Network explains why."

1 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Why proprietary software is better... by russotto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...for the patent issue: Open Source's usual strength is its weakness here. Since anyone can look at the source, anyone -- including hostile IP companies -- can fairly easily find infringing code. With a proprietary OS, the patent-holder first has to reverse-engineer the code to find the infringement. Which isn't so easy.

    As for the claim above that no one has sued an end user: nonsense, of course. SCO has, for one. And one company was even successfully sued for a program which did not embody or use a patented process or device, but simply wrote one bit of data that, when inserted into another device, would cause it to execute the patented process in a manner violating the license granted to the manufacturer of the second device.