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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!lucy.swin.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!cs.mu.OZ.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!tezcat!news.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!howland.erols.net!rill.news.pipex.net!pipex!dish.news.pipex.net!pipex!halon.vggas.com!news From: JYoungman@vggas.com (James Youngman) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy,comp.os.os2.advocacy Subject: Re: Linux vs whatever Date: 3 Feb 1997 14:08:34 GMT Organization: VG Gas Analysis Systems Lines: 22 Message-ID: <5d4rh2$5g9@halon.vggas.com> References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <m23evrulla.fsf@desk.crynwr.com> <32EA25AB.41C67EA6@freebsd.org> <5qC7y0gTzDLB091yn@ibm.net> <5ciraf$gs@cynic.portal.ca> <32EE0B70.1657@ml.com> <87zpxs7uwg.fsf@murkwood.gaffaneys.com> <5crvoc$up4@camel2.mindspring.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: uriel.vggas.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.99.8 (x86 32bit) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.misc:157512 comp.os.linux.networking:67972 comp.os.linux.setup:96560 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:5964 comp.unix.bsd.misc:2442 comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy:52482 comp.os.os2.advocacy:266972 In article <5crvoc$up4@camel2.mindspring.com>, kpneal@pobox.com says... > >Zach Heilig <zach@blizzard.gaffaneys.com> wrote: > >>[1] different topic... does this mean one software package I own that >>was distributed on a ROM dated and copyright (by Microsoft even) 10 >>years before the patent was issued... is now in violation of that >>patent since it uses 'XOR' to blink the cursor? > >Yes, because they didn't document publically the fact that they did >the cursor that way. "Prior art" it's called, and the XOR patent >stands because no prior art exists. This raises the interesting point that releasing your source code under a BSD or GPL (or whatever) may actually protect you because that would probably count as "documenting publically" the mechanisms of the program. I wonder! -- James Youngman VG Gas Analysis Systems |The trouble with the rat-race Before sending advertising material, read |is, even if you win, you're http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html|still a rat.