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SubjectRe: Article: IBM wants to "clean up the license" of Linux
On Wed, 23 Dec 1998, Richard Stallman wrote:

# The US Constitution and the US legal system have an interesting view
# of the question--and it isn't what most people think it is. Their
# view is that patents don't exist for the sake of patent owners. The
# official reason for patents in the US is "to promote progress."

While I've been following this thread for what seems to be years now,
something has struck me as being missed by most posters.

We all must remember that regardless of the literature, the United States
isn't a democracy[1]. We are a country ruled by corporations and
businesses. Our laws are in that direction was well as the apparent "will"
of our leaders.

Patents, copyrights, personal rights, intellectual rights: step back a
second a look at the laws that govern those concepts. There is a definate
pattern. They provide rights in favor of business, and reinforce personal
behavior patterns that benefit them.

Things aren't going to change here, I'm afraid. Though it goes against the
grain of my programming self, in this case we need to think solely about
'work arounds', not 'bug fixes' because we never will get our way.

<pessimism off>

My $0.02 ...


[1] which, imho, is a very poor choice for a system of government.
Popularity != ability to lead.

G'day!

-- n i c h o l a s j l e o n
/ elegance through simplicity /
/ good fortune through truth / http://mrnick.binary9.net
/ not all questions have answers / mailto:nicholas@binary9.net



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