"Brian M. Carlson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Debian is not patent-free, and will not be patent-free. CAST5 and > CAST6 are patented but are available for use royalty free. DSA is > patented by, IIRC, David Kravitz of the NSA. Putting a cursor on the > screen using XOR is patented.
The XOR cursor patent expired in 1997, IIRC. > I'm sure the Linux console driver (as well as the Hurd console > driver) uses that technique, because it is efficient. Copy-on-write > memory semantics are patented by SGI. And so on. Copy-on-write is also older than 17 years, AFAIK. > If Apple decides to actively enforce its patent, you should upgrade > the severity to serious if the license available for general use is > not compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines. Who cares about free? Why not have some Legal Software Guidelines instead? -- Måns Rullgård [EMAIL PROTECTED]
