Microsoft Patents 'IsNot'

[Frithiof Andreas Jensen]

"Carlos Ribeiro" <carribeiro at gmail.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.6721.1101208339.5135.python-list at python.org...

> With patents will become impossible to implement
> software that is compatible with MS offerings.

In the end, all that is achieved is to be in the position that DEC, IBM, and
countless others placed themselves in:
Sealed in behind proprietary connectors, standards and protocols and finding
that they forgot to leave airholes in that box ;-)
Just about *every* proprietary standard ever invented eventually is
subverted and die because nobody wants the hassle and risk of dealing with
it,  it gets in the way of "The Job" whereas the Generic *facilitates* "The
Job".

> With patents, Microsoft can also strike back at open-source with an
> economical argument: "I am the innovator and those guys are copying my
> innovation and dumping the market with cheap copies". Its a good
> argument for courts, and one that a conservative administration (read
> Bush) is ready to buy.

T-Rex was pretty fearsome too for a while but it did not cut much ice when
the ecosystem changed!