STWL 1.0, revision 3

[Alex Rousskov]

On Mon, 2004/11/15 (MST), <bfastenrath at mac.com> wrote:

> Thorsten Glaser wrote:
>>  You acknowledge that a thing comparable to "software patents"
>> (patents on algorithms, business models and data structures)
>> exists, thus voiding _our_ tries to get that out of the mind
>> of people.
>
> Do you suggest that nuclear waste shouldn't be mentioned
> because if we don't talk about it it might vanish?

Real objects do not behave like make-believe concepts. The rules of the  
game are different for each class. Nuclear waste is real; one can touch  
it. Its existence does not depend on us speaking about it. A legal  
abstraction such as patents is not a "real thing". It is a product of our  
imagination. It only exists if enough people use it. It will indeed vanish  
(for all practical purposes in scope) if enough people stop believing in  
it.

Sorry, I do not have a Wikipedia link that explains the above in more  
detail.

Alex.

P.S. I do not know if inclusion or exclusion of patents in OSI-approved  
licenses would make a difference for software patents existence though.