Because it forces the inventor to publish, they are a lot better for society than the previous protectionist default, which was relying on keeping trade secrets

Because it forces the inventor to publish, they are a lot better for society than the previous protectionist default, which was relying on keeping trade secrets. Part of what is interesting to me about open source is that it provides a system of development that is pretty competitive with the established protectionist models, so I am watching the open source hardware scene very closely. To me the question isn't whether patents are good or bad in some absolute term, it is more whether they are becoming obsolete for many situations.