[OT] Free software versus software idea patents

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 10:04 AM, harrismh777 <harrismh777 at charter.net> wrote:
>    Not so fast there, Steve. If they [Microsoft] are paying anything
> (unsubstantiated, unknowable) to Python, Apache, or (Linux, whatever you
> mean by that term...) there are only two motives:

http://www.python.org/psf/ - Microsoft is listed. I would assume one
does not become a "sponsor member" without paying money (or a whole
lot of something that translates to money, like staff hours).

http://www.apache.org/foundation/thanks.html - again, Microsoft is
listed (in the top category, "Platinum Sponsors").

Feel free to continue discussing the merits of these donations, but it
is definitely substantiable and knowable. Microsoft has money, and
they're prepared to spend it on what they believe in. (My view is that
they believe in positive PR more than they believe in Python or Apache
or whatever.)

Chris Angelico