🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4668@cluster.cs.su.oz.au> friedman@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Noah Friedman) writes:

|    99.99999% of the US population doesn't know what's good for the
|    software industry, either.  They don't keep track of research and
|    development (except to the extent that companies advertise their
|    products) so they don't have any idea how software patents will
|    affect the industry (or even their pocketbooks) until they see
|    yet higher prices on the software they want to buy.

Ten years ago, one could purchase a bang-up compiler called Turbo
Pascal for $50. Today, I pay about $130 for the same compiler. But the
functionality is much more than 150% increased. Similar examples exist
in every area of software.

I don't think anyone in the computer world can legitimately complain
about software prices, even in today's (alledgedly) software patent
riddled world.  The people who seem to complain the most are those who
apparently want software for free or those who want to give it away.

|    Since it is people who work in the trade (i.e. programmers) who
|    complain the most about the effect of patents in the computer
|    industry, I consider it a legitimate concern, since these people
|    know their work and know they'd rather spend time programming
|    than going to court.  I think that within this subset of the
|    population, the percentage of people who are concerned about this
|    matter is substantially larger than you claim (alas, I don't have
|    any more exact numbers than you do).

I think we would all have heard about it if programmers were spending
time in court on patent challenges. It just isn't so. I have not heard
of a single instance, although I'm sure there must be a few. But as a
percentage of the programming population the number is I'm sure
miniscule.

Also, a patent stops nobody from "spending time programming".  Code
anything you like. Just don't try cutting into someone else's market,
either with free or with your own marketed software.

This makes so much practical sense (reinforced by Terry Ritter's
recent article discussing the patent holder's point of view) that I
can't see why this point is always raised in attacking software
patents. It just isn't relevant.
--
Kim Letkeman	kim@Software.Mitel.COM