🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9103080913.AA08864@mole.ai.mit.edu> rms@mole.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman) writes:
+Many of you have been counting on the Apple lawsuit threat to go away
+of its own accord.  It may yet do so--but now this is less likely.  I
+hope this development will convince you that we can't rely on the
+judge to protect us; if we don't want these monopolies, it's up to us
+to prevent them.

How does one prevent such. It seems that if one comes out with a
screen of any sort either, Apple, ATT, Sun, DEC, or even IBM will
pounce upon you. Of course if you give away software then they could
sue you and get damages but if you poor enough the'll get nothing.
But then if your so poor no one will take your free stuff either so
they will never hear about you hence never sue you.

I for one have no faith in legislation since the top 10 can fund
more lobyists, who can plow more fields with more money than I'll ever
expect to make in my life.

Clearly my not buying Apple products since the Apple ][ has had zero
effect. Clearly other players with bigger budgets to wage legal
warefare have folded at the 'right' price(remember Digital
Research). Now I note that there is some entity which believes
itself to own XOR'ing on bit maps, and another company to own
multiple window updates, and others which own windows in general. If
this were the automobile industry I would expect the next new
generation to be inventing square wheels and patenting them to boot.
Who knows how you would operate the damned thing since the previous
generation patented the stering wheel and accelerator/break/clutch
pattern.

-- 

John Clark
jclark@ucsd.edu