Trimming the FAT: Linux and Patents

linux-mag.com

10 points·linuxmag··4 comments

Interesting, to circumvent the VFAT patent, they're just disabling the creation of files with long names, which is all the patent apparently covers. I wonder if there's actually a way to avoid the patent without limiting functionality. Unfortunately, I have no idea how different your implementation needs to be to be safe from the patent, though.

I have no idea how different your implementation needs to be to be safe from the patent, though.

Neither does anyone else until you put it before a jury. That's a large part of the problem.

Doesn't the inclusion of this VFAT long filename creation config flag in the mainline kernel constitute an implicit acceptance of the validity of the Microsoft patent? Perhaps you could argue that using the flag will guarantee legal security against this patent claim and not using the flag is no different from the past. Is it really in the best interests of "Linux" to implicitly acknowledge a patent for something as trivial as a hack to support long filenames in a poorly designed filesystem? Really?

Absolutely. That's what Linux tends to not get: the last little details that piss off new users to no end because the last inch of the journey isn't properly implemented.

Powerpoint presentations that load in OOo but don't look quite the same. Web pages that look like shit because the fonts used are the wrong size and don't render right. Files on FAT USB sticks that are in all CAPS appear as all small case. The list goes on and on and on..

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