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Taking some patented "idea" from a GPL'd piece of code and re-implementing it in your own separately licensed code is not something that the GPL gives you the r
by delackner 16y ago
Taking some patented "idea" from a GPL'd piece of code and re-implementing it in your own separately licensed code is not something that the GPL gives you the right to do.
Your definition of open-platform requires that the code not be covered by any patents. Anyway, the best thing that can come out of all of this is more deep-pocketed players angry with the software patent system.
- bad_user 16y agoBut my point isn't about what the GPL gives you the right to do. I don't see the Linux kernel devs getting sued or suing the *BSD kernel devs, although they share ideas all the time. Also, people scale/modify the Linux/BSD kernel to fit their needs all the time. The Java patent grant only applies if you're not building a subset/superset of Java or if you're extending OpenJDK. But these aren't enough ... some people do not want GPL. That's what I mean by "the spirit of open-source" ... it's a collaboration effort from which everyone benefits. And as of this recent announcement, OpenJDK is open-source only by license ... if that wasn't clear already.