Difference between revisions of "Free software"
(→External links: * [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/709519/000119312504155723/dex10109.htm A 2004 patent deal regarding StarOffice/OpenOffice.org], signed with Sun Microsystems ** 2010-) |
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* [[Free software distributors paying patent tax]] | * [[Free software distributors paying patent tax]] | ||
* [[Free software projects harmed by software patents]] | * [[Free software projects harmed by software patents]] | ||
* [[Fake representatives of free software]] | * [[Fake representatives of free software]] | ||
| − | * [[Harm to standards]] | + | * [[Harm to standards]] (examples include [[OpenGL]], [[MPEG video formats]], and [[GIF]]) |
* [[Patent clauses in software licences]] | * [[Patent clauses in software licences]] | ||
* [[passive threats]] - a common way that free software is "targeted" | * [[passive threats]] - a common way that free software is "targeted" | ||
Revision as of 14:10, 11 March 2010
Free software is software which can be used, copied, redistributed, and whose source code can be viewed, modified, and also redistributed. See also:
"Free software" is not a subtopic of software patents. All types of software development carry the risk of patent infringement. The reason these two topics often appear together is that, firstly, the free software community is very active and vocal in campaigning against software patents, and secondly, software patents threaten a general freedom that free software users value: the freedom to participate in software development.
The term open source is a near-synonym. Patents affect the freedom that users and developers have when dealing with software. Patents don't affect "openness", so ESP Wiki should use the term "free software".
Contents
Why free software groups should be involved
The free software movement says that everyone should be allowed to modify and redistribute the software they use. Software patents interfere with this because they can add legal risks and costs to software development and distribution.
Patent promises in 2005
IBM promised, for 500 of its patents, not to use them against free software.[1]
Sun[2] and Nokia[3] subsequently made promises that were so narrow in scope, they were qualified as "empty" and "next to nothing", respectively, by Richard Stallman.[4]
Related pages on ESP Wiki
- Free software distributors paying patent tax
- Free software projects harmed by software patents
- Fake representatives of free software
- Harm to standards (examples include OpenGL, MPEG video formats, and GIF)
- Patent clauses in software licences
- passive threats - a common way that free software is "targeted"
- Patent promises - many of which are somewhat focussed on free software
- Novell-Microsoft patent deals
- Richard Stallman
- Free Software Foundation
External links
- The Free Software Definition
- Wikipedia: Software patents and free software
- CALIU: Patents Threathen Free Software
- Operating systems will be developed by lawyers not programmers, Pete Loshin, 2006
- June 2009: Microsoft seeks $50 per copy of Xandros GNU/Linux (plus itWire coverage)
- "Effects of Software Patents on Free/Open Source/User Innovation", slides / video (works with Gnash)
- FSF's amicus brief for the 2009 Supreme Court case, contains details of how free software is important and how it's affected
- Patents - Why Free/Open Source Software Might Have Less to Fear than Non-Free Software, by Dan Ravicher, September 2004
- A 2004 patent deal regarding StarOffice/OpenOffice.org, signed with Sun Microsystems
- 2010-03-09: Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal, by Johnathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems about patent threats from Apple and from Microsoft regarding OpenOffice.org
