15 Sep 2009 Omnifarious   » (Journeyer)

Well, my collaborator wants a patent :-(

And the only way I'll let myself be associated with a patent is if it's clear the patent will never be asserted against any software meeting the open source definition or meeting the free software definition. This is a concession he's unwilling to make. In particular, he wants some kind of definition for 'commercial' against which the patent can be asserted.

Oh, well. I'm going to generously allow him to use it in proprietary software if he so chooses. I'm trying to think up a set of conditions that will make sure the source never appears in public so nobody is ever tempted to put themselves in the way of a patent, should he choose to file one.

He thinks I'm completely nuts, and also thinks my principles are antithetical to his ability to make a living. *sigh* That's not how things work. The only power in ideas is if they're shared widely and freely.

I think the idea is a neat idea, but not that neat. Like all ideas it builds on and incorporates existing ones. For all I know, someone has already thought of doing something like it. I know at least one project of mine was something close.

Syndicated 2009-09-15 21:21:47 (Updated 2009-09-15 21:25:08) from Lover of Ideas

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