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I think I'd be willing to accept software patents if the patent was required to include complete source code. Basically, if it acted as delayed open source.

Ostensibly the patent system exists to incentivize open publishing of new technologies, but it isn't worth squat if full of vague language written by lawyers.

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Problematic software patents are rarely about the source code. It's not too hard to implement, but too easy. Anybody can do it, and there was no reason to give a patent in the first place.

That said... it would at least guarantee that you put in the minimum effort to actually do it, rather than just sitting on the idea and waiting for somebody to run afoul of your patent. And maybe we'll get a few patent examiners saying, "Explain again how a five-line chunk of code is patent-worthy?"

So we'll have software patents with brainfuck code. https://brainfuck.org/

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