6 Mar
2005
6 Mar
'05
4:57 p.m.
"M.Balakrishna Pillai" mbpillai@asianetindia.com writes:
You are trying to associate proprietary software with patents.
That is true. Free Software does not require patents. Patent holders can control/restrict use of patented softwares.
But, a free software developer can also apply for a patent on a particular idea, and require that programs using the idea be free! And guess what, people have already done that. Check out
We might disagree on whether the two are mutually exclusive. But that's a different issue.
Going back to where we forked off from - proprietary software developers/users also have a reason to fight against software patents. I guess you will agree with that.
Regards Vijay