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The flip side is that if you believe that laws like those around software patents should change, someone ignoring them and taking the risk of being sued is a mo

The flip side is that if you believe that laws like those around software patents should change, someone ignoring them and taking the risk of being sued is a more compelling demonstration than carefully observing the rules and then complaining about them on HN. More pragmatically, it seems unlikely that Oracle or Adobe will sue a distro for helping them distribute the Java/Flash runtimes. They want their runtime to be on as many devices as possible.

creshal 11y ago
> The flip side is that if you believe that laws like those around software patents should change, someone ignoring them and taking the risk of being sued is a more compelling demonstration than carefully observing the rules and then complaining about them on HN. As EU citizen I have zero influence on US politics. Complaining on HN to US citizens is literally all I can do. > More pragmatically, it seems unlikely that Oracle or Adobe will sue a distro for helping them distribute the Java/Flash runtimes. Then maybe those companies should change their license terms. Right now, Adobe does not even allow you to use a downloaded Flash installer on two computers, you must either download it separately on each PC or apply for a special license: http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribution.html http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribut... If they want to shoot themselves in their feet, I'm not going to interfere.
- takluyver 11y ago
  > As EU citizen I have zero influence on US politics. Complaining on HN to US citizens is literally all I can do. What about making nice things that US citizens can't legally have? If you're legally in the clear in your own jurisdiction, you don't even need to take a risk yourself. I'm not a lawyer and I don't know exactly what our situation is in the EU, so don't take my word that that's safe. Software patents may be technically banned, but I think people disguise them as 'business method' patents. And if you use US project hosting like Github, maybe someone can sue you there. I'm suggesting that, at the margins, we should take some risks.

creshal 11y ago

> The flip side is that if you believe that laws like those around software patents should change, someone ignoring them and taking the risk of being sued is a more compelling demonstration than carefully observing the rules and then complaining about them on HN. As EU citizen I have zero influence on US politics. Complaining on HN to US citizens is literally all I can do. > More pragmatically, it seems unlikely that Oracle or Adobe will sue a distro for helping them distribute the Java/Flash runtimes. Then maybe those companies should change their license terms. Right now, Adobe does not even allow you to use a downloaded Flash installer on two computers, you must either download it separately on each PC or apply for a special license: http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribution.html http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribut... If they want to shoot themselves in their feet, I'm not going to interfere.

takluyver 11y ago
> As EU citizen I have zero influence on US politics. Complaining on HN to US citizens is literally all I can do. What about making nice things that US citizens can't legally have? If you're legally in the clear in your own jurisdiction, you don't even need to take a risk yourself. I'm not a lawyer and I don't know exactly what our situation is in the EU, so don't take my word that that's safe. Software patents may be technically banned, but I think people disguise them as 'business method' patents. And if you use US project hosting like Github, maybe someone can sue you there. I'm suggesting that, at the margins, we should take some risks.