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Open Source As Legal Time Bomb

Posted by Zonk on from the boom dept.

Hwyman writes "TechWorld is reporting on the latest attack on open-source software by the Microsoft-backed Alexis de Toqueville Institution (ADTI). Many here will remember ADTI's previous assertion that Linux Torvald was NOT the true father of the Linux kernel. Taking the stance that OSS is in conflict with IP law, ADTI president Kenneth Brown states, 'After a brief glance at much open source software development, it becomes readily apparent that a number of open source practices directly conflict with best practices associated with protecting intellectual property.' With references like 'open sores software,' it's easy to believe that ADTI might be somewhat biased."

7 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. True Fathers by LordHatrus · · Score: 5, Funny

    James Earl Jones: Tux... I AM your father.
    Tux: Noooooooo!

  2. Um... by neXus_umr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Umm... I would agree that Linux Torvald didn't create Linux, but Linus Torvalds did.

    1. Re:Um... by imroy · · Score: 4, Funny

      I often mistype Linus as Linux. You have to remember that us Linux geeks spend a lot of time typing the word "linux". Either in online discussion or compiling source code, the letters l-i-n-u-x cross our keyboards very often. So when we try to type Linus, habit takes over and the 's' is replaced with 'x'. I even find that almost any word starting with 'lin' quickly becomes 'linux' purely by habit.

  3. Big Stick Policy? by inertia187 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So the proposed solution is to sue the pants off of anyone involved with open source and take their money. Open source developers have a great defense against this: they have no money.

    --
    A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
    1. Re:Big Stick Policy? by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Open source developers have a great defense against this: they have no money.

      Then the courts will take away their girlfriends. Oh wait

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:Oh my gosh! by DoraLives · · Score: 4, Funny
    What do they teach MBAs these days anyway?

    From the looks of things, Applied Greed for the most part.

    --
    Is it fascism yet?
  5. If I win the lottery... by Radical+Rad · · Score: 4, Funny

    If I were to win the lottery then just to amuse my Slashdot friends I promise to commission a study by the Alexis de Toqueville Institute which finds that small hairy dwarves who live in the sewer actually invented Linux. I will have Ken Brown include in the bibliography the ingredients label on a can of Lima beans as well as a second ADTI report which finds that the Law of Gravity is on a collision course with intellectual "property" law, and I will pay him extra if he agrees to entitle the report "The Secret Incestual Goat Fetish of My Immediate Family". How much do you think he will do it for, about 5 or 10 grand?