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From: drl@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (David R. Linn)
Subject: Re: BSDI/USL Lawsuit -- More Bad News for Human Beings...
Message-ID: <C13yAn.BC@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>
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Organization: Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, Nashville, TN, USA
References: <BZS.93Jan16205935@world.std.com> <1jdibnINN52u@usenet.pa.dec.com> <1jftlvINNq62@chnews.intel.com>
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Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 15:42:22 GMT
Lines: 35
In article <1jftlvINNq62@chnews.intel.com> bhoughto@sedona.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>In article <1jdibnINN52u@usenet.pa.dec.com> ed@pa.dec.com writes:
>>[Houghton]
>>> THEY'LL NEVER GET THE SETUID-BIT!!! NEVER!!!
>>> (They can't. It's PD. Thanks, Dennis. :-))
>>
>>If by "PD" you mean "Public Domain," then no, it's not. The set-uid
>
>Yes, it is. Ritchie placed it there, after the patent was
>granted. Or so goes the version of the story I've seen:
>somewhere there's a copy of the patent documents with his
>signature and the handwritten statement "placed in the
>public domain, <date>".
>
>>bit is protected by a United States patent. It happens that the owner
>>of the patent (AT&T, not DMR, for all practical purposes), has decided
>>to "let" the patent, which means, effectively, that they grant a
>
>And I heard it was Ritchie's, not AT&T's (as long
>as we're being fast and loose).
Actually, the adjective used to describe the current status of the
setuid bit is "dedicated". I spoke to D. Richie about this patent
at the Nashville USENIX and, as I recall, he indicated that the patent
was AT&T's (does Bell Labs retain all patents of its researchers?) and
they were the ones who "dedicated" it to public use. My purpose in
starting this conversation was to thank him for allowing the public
use of the setuid bit (and, yes, I admit it, so I would have an excuse
for speaking to him).
David
--
David R. Linn, System/Mail/News Manager | INET: drl@vuse.vanderbilt.edu
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself | Phone: [+1] 615-343-6164
"Some do, some don't and that's the way of the world."