What you want to do is use someone’s else’s idea, instead of using your own, or you want to ride on the coat tails of the success of another company that is popular in the market where you are not.

Why did tomtom use FAT in the first place ?? mabey because they wanted to communicate with the vast majority of the rest of the world who happen to CHOOSE to use windows.

Sure Linux has alternative file systems, but they choose not to use them because its not as popular.

SO how is it, you people think that being able to use someone elses idea’s or invention promotes innovation.

It seems to me that if you cannot use that invention you have to innovate your own way of doing things.

So patent reform actually limits innovation, its not that you want to come up with something good yourself you just want to be able to steal and cherry pick any good idea’s you see as usable or popular to allow your “product” to be actually usable.

You did it with UNIX, FOSS/Linux could not even come up with a new or innovative Operating System, they had to copy someone elses idea’s.

Yes, I know the code of UNIX and linux are not the same, but I have got Video of RMS saying they simply replaced Unix with Linux code section by section, basically stealing the structure of the UNIX OS.

FAT as you’ve said is not necessaraly a great File system but its popular, so you steal it and use it.

Trouble is it does not belong to you, it was developed by MS they own the patent to it.

So if you dont want to break your own GPL and you know there is a patent or a possible patent in the code you ship section 7 of the GPL says you cannot do that.

So its not MS’s fault that tomtom or anyone has breached the GPL and well the law is the law.

So Roy, the master of FUD himself the permanent student with nothing better to do spends his days crying about the law because he thinks FOSS should be able to steal and cherry pick anything they want.

Prior art? no

Think Rollerblades, its obvious to put wheels on the bottom of shoes, and there is prior knowledge for it, and its quite obvious.

But rollerblades are patented, and its also been upheld on the courts.

I hope this goes to court, and I hope MS stomps on TomTom after all, they have broken the patent laws as well as the GPL.

So is the federation going to revoke the GPL from them, or anyone else. ?

Are you going to innovate and do its in a new way,, I sure hope so.

BTW: MS has allready won, win or lose in courts, companies will think twice or 3 times about using Linux in their products knowing how free and lose FOSS play with the law.

Good luck ,, you really need it.

(compete on quality, you’ll be surprised at the results).

1) Bow to Microsofts extortion racket, pay them some money, and potentially permanently damage the Linux community by validating Microsofts ridiculous claims.

2) Call their bluff; stand up to the corporate bully Microsoft (and accept help from your Linux-using brother companies). When the smoke clears and the FAT patents are declared invalid, TomTom will be the #1 brand in GPS, and known as the company who stood up (for their and everyone elses freedom) to Microsoft and won (scoring a win for the EU at the same time). That kind of reputation is priceless, and will never be forgotten. Then the larger open season on Microsoft will start…

I am proud to own a TomTom GPS myself.

This company might be useful as a buffer to the community, and could be placed under contract to give a no-restriction license to Microsoft (avoiding the GPL restraints while leveraging the bug fixes, ideas, and sweat from the community.. without having to give back anything and while closing it off to support their monopolies).

Think Novell.

>> Let me repeat: wi-fi + computer + car = patent infringement.

>> This illustrates pretty well why software patents are pretty clearly bogus — how can patent have a wireless computer in a car? How is that unique idea?

Even if it was a great idea never thought of before. Science works because we can leverage each other’s great efforts. Many people come up with new stuff. There are two choices. Because of the monopoly barriers, patent and hence have everyone work in isolation, from the beginning, while navigating mine fields. Or share and rely on synergies and on the “standing on the shoulders of giants” [Isaac Newton].

It should be clear that patent law as applied to software does not meet the US Constitutional requirement of promoting the sciences and useful arts. Meanwhile, monopoly grants clearly violate civil liberties. I want to work with those I trust to build my own computing machinery as a safeguard against the government. We are not asking for help, just that we are not hindered with these monopoly grants that, further, are holding back science/art.

Supporting patents needs to be for special cases (and not a blanket 20 year monopoly after clearing a low tech hurdle). You need a forum of experts to judge the patent. These experts should include those in the relevant industry as well as economic and civil liberties experts. Patents make sense for special insight into costly industries; otherwise, they hamper advancement and abridge the rights of the many.

http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2009/02/27/#20090227-microsoft_patent_lawsuit

“The underlying strategy is very obvious: Make those patent licenses high enough to reduce the cost advantage of a Linux based OS over Windows CE and thereby demotivate companies from using Linux in the embedded world.

“This has so far happened behind closed doors, but if you google you can find a couple of strange press releases of Asian companies buying into those MS patent deals for Linux. ”

[...]

“I myself, as well as numerous other people in the Free and Open Source world are asking themselves how this legal action fits into the Microsoft-proclaimed Free Software friendly strategy. As you can see now, that was nothing but vapor.”

He also talks about the invalidity of the patent/s, citing the prior art.

Let’s rejoice that we are in a win:win situation.

http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2009/02/27#20090227-microsoft_patent_lawsuit

hilarious grub message when booting from fat32 fs:
“Filesystem type is fat, using whole disk”

Time to play up the strong advantages of the GPLv3 and the AfferoGPL.

I’m noticing that there seems to be a lot of litigation missing from the list, including the TomTom case:

http://endsoftpatents.org/a-litany-of-lawsuits