While developing a FAT32 driver for my bootloader, I thought to make it complete by adding the long file name support.
While watching around for some specification, and I also found articles about Microsoft suing for infringement of their patents on something that basically is a workaround.
Knowing about this events made me think: is it fair to patent things that are workarounds?
- 6Are patents fair in the first place?Winston Ewert– Winston Ewert2014-09-07 14:40:37 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2014 at 14:40
- "avoid asking subjective questions where … every answer is equally valid" (help center). See meta.programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/6483/…gnat– gnat2014-09-07 16:44:18 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2014 at 16:44
Add a comment |
1 Answer
If a solution to a problem is a workaround or not is often just a matter of viewpoint. And to find a good workaround for a problem is sometimes not easy and may need a whole lot of intellectual work, not necessarily less than a "straightforward" or "uncompromising" solution. So assumed software patents would be any kind of fair (which I strongly deny!), I don't see why patents for "workarounds" should be less fair than for other "non-workarounds".
- From my point of view, workarounds aren't any type of new technology or industrial secret that needs to be hidden, it's really just some expedient for making more money. So, still from my point of view, they're more unjust.EnryFan– EnryFan2014-09-07 17:13:51 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2014 at 17:13
- @EnryFan: The large majority of patents (and not just the software ones) are not for something completely new but rather for (innovative) changes to existing technology.Bart van Ingen Schenau– Bart van Ingen Schenau2014-09-07 17:20:29 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2014 at 17:20
- @BartvanIngenSchenau: actually, IMHO the large majority of software patents are for something where the degree of innovation is, well, lets say debatable.Doc Brown– Doc Brown2014-09-07 19:20:28 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2014 at 19:20