"Nobody ever invents anything." - James Taggart
"He didn't invent smelting and chemistry and air compression. He couldn't have invented his Metal but for thousands and thousands of other people. His Metal! Why does he think it's his? Why does he think it's his invention? Everybody uses the work of everybody else. Nobody ever invents anything." - James Taggart
The first patent issued in the US was a "method" patent. Hopkins invented a method for making pot ash. Every invention is a combination of known elements. It is not efficient, nor productive and certainly not brilliant to "reproduce" software that already exists.
Some in the Gulch are clearly not interested in what Ayn Rand or Objectivism had to say.
Please go read _The Cathedral And The Bazaar_ by Eric S. Raymond.
Now please go read Eric S. Raymond.
It asks whether SOFTWARE patents should be abolished.
The answer is: yes, software patents should be abolished. The USPTO opened a huge Pandora's box when it started issuing patents for something that is unpatentable. And we have a real mess on our hands because of it.
I am neither a liar nor ignorant, but YOU are a troll.
Now put your money where your mouth is. Name ONE open source project that has violated ANYONE'S copyright, patent or trademark.
Go ahead, I'm waiting.
THe paper you mention says nothing about property rights. Linux was just a rehash of UNIX - typical of opensource goons. They can't invent anything themselves so they recreate existing s/w and think they are brilliant
Also, you are lying about yet another thing: Red Hat did not lose the lawsuit. They settled.
So Red Hat paid off a looter to make them go away. Shame on Red Hat.
P.S. Software companies lose lawsuits to patent trolls all the time. Red Hat isn't the first and won't be the last.
And holding the opinion that SOFTWARE patents should be abolished (which they should) is not proof that anyone is trampling on anyone's rights.
Now let's see you take ownership of the several lies that I've already caught you in.