4 ms·

> It does not matter any more if there are still valid patents for exFAT. Would you care to elaborate for why that is? Would anyone else with knowledge about t

> It does not matter any more if there are still valid patents for exFAT. Would you care to elaborate for why that is? Would anyone else with knowledge about the patent system and any possible risks imposed by it also like to do so?

igneo676 6y ago
Because, effectively, the exFAT filesystem is OSS since August 2019 and Microsoft released all the specifications to it [0]. Microsoft has essentially taken public, legal steps to ensure that anyone else can use exFAT without legal encumbrances and without threat of lawsuit. IANAL - so there's likely some caveats (you probably can't just use the exFAT name unless certain qualifications are met, just like you can't use Firefox's trademarks willy-nilly), but that should be good enough for just about anyone. Including paranoid OSS peeps like me :) 0: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2019/08/28/exfat-linux-kernel/ https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2019/08/28/exfat...
- Delk 6y ago
  I'm also not a lawyer, but AFAIK publishing a specification has nothing to do with whether the tech can be legally used without a patent license. I don't know how the release to Open Invention Network affects things, though.
- dingaling 6y ago
  > Because, effectively, the exFAT filesystem is OSS since August 2019 No its inclusion in Linux was the result of a decision by Microsoft, not a granting of an open license. Any other implementation still has to apply for a license: "For customers wanting only a patent license, you can contact us to learn more about the exFAT licensing program and request a pricing proposal."
m000 6y ago
> Would you care to elaborate for why that is? Would you care to elaborate for why that is? To put it bluntly, if Microsoft's guarantees are good enough for Linus so as to merge the driver in the Linux mainline, they're good enough for me too.

igneo676 6y ago

Because, effectively, the exFAT filesystem is OSS since August 2019 and Microsoft released all the specifications to it [0]. Microsoft has essentially taken public, legal steps to ensure that anyone else can use exFAT without legal encumbrances and without threat of lawsuit. IANAL - so there's likely some caveats (you probably can't just use the exFAT name unless certain qualifications are met, just like you can't use Firefox's trademarks willy-nilly), but that should be good enough for just about anyone. Including paranoid OSS peeps like me :) 0: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2019/08/28/exfat-linux-kernel/ https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2019/08/28/exfat...

Delk 6y ago
I'm also not a lawyer, but AFAIK publishing a specification has nothing to do with whether the tech can be legally used without a patent license. I don't know how the release to Open Invention Network affects things, though.
dingaling 6y ago
> Because, effectively, the exFAT filesystem is OSS since August 2019 No its inclusion in Linux was the result of a decision by Microsoft, not a granting of an open license. Any other implementation still has to apply for a license: "For customers wanting only a patent license, you can contact us to learn more about the exFAT licensing program and request a pricing proposal."

m000 6y ago

> Would you care to elaborate for why that is? Would you care to elaborate for why that is? To put it bluntly, if Microsoft's guarantees are good enough for Linus so as to merge the driver in the Linux mainline, they're good enough for me too.