Guy Baruch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [25/09/02 12:27]:
>
> There's something in this thread I may be a bit too simple to understand.
>
> I assume bidi support is really better than in current products, are the
> algorithms
> patented ?
This question never occured to me, and he didn't mention anything about
it. I think that when he released the first versions, people were not
patenting algorithms, and I don't think he ever published the algorithm,
so my guess is that they are not patented. I'll ask him. Anyway, he
claims (and I believe him) that bidi support in Qtext is significantly
better than in M$ word.
>
> if so, I'm not really sure what good will releasing _the source_ to public
> domain will do, at least for law-abiding entities ( {persons} \subset
> {entities} ... :) ).
>
> If , OTOH, there are no patents, than wouldn't releasing the source be
> beneficial to other projects regardless of the porting effort ?
Yes, assuming the people who work there are willing to read the source,
extract the algorithms and apply them to those projects (which, I guess,
might be quite a lot of work). If they *are* willing to do this, perhaps
getting the algorithms will be easier than getting the source.
>
> To summarize, it seems to me the porting effort, requires that
> the source be released, but IMHO its' feasibility should not hinder efforts
> to release the source.
>
> I, for one, am willing to donate a modest amount (~100 shekels) for the
> explicit
> purpose of releasing the source (unburdened by patents) to public domain.
>
> Moshe Kaminsky wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >When I was a kid, I used a word processor called Qtext on my dos
> >machine. It was a freeware written by an Israeli guy, and had a better
> >(by far) bidi support than any alternative I knew.
> >
> >Yesterday, I discovered that I work with the guy who wrote it in the
> >same room. He told me that Qtext still exists, it is no longer a
> >freeware (it belongs to his kibutz) and that it still has the best bidi
> >support (they have only a window$ version). He also told me that the
> >developement of Qtext has stopped, since people seem to prefer M$ word
> >(apparently for the same obscure reasons they prefer other M$
> >software :). Anyway, he told me that they might be willing to sell the
> >source. Since they ceased developing it, I guess the price won't be very
> >high, and if it is possible to port it to linux, this might be the best
> >bidi word processor we have (it also supports Arabic and nikud).
> >
> >My question is, is there someone who might want to fund it?
> >
> >Moshe
> >
> >--
> >Moshe Kaminsky
> >(Home) 08-9471073
> >
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> >
> >
>
> --
> -- regards
>
> +-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> + Guy Baruch , Plasma Laboratory, Weizmann Institue.
> + mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> + phone: 972-8-934-2211
> +-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> They hang the man and flog the woman
> That steal the goose from off the common,
> But let the greater villain loose
> That steals the common from the goose.
>
> --English folk poem, circa 1764
>
>
>
>
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