Re: Patents: Join Open Invention Network advice
On Sun, Dec 29, 2013 at 1:30 AM, adrian15 wrote:
> 1) Should I apply to OIN so that Rescatux is a member?
That is up to you to decide.
> 2) What's the Debian policy about OIN? I've only found this information:
In short:
We didn't join because OIN's public facing stance on software patents
is too patent-positive.
We probably couldn't join as we aren't a legal entity, perhaps SPI
could join though.
We encouraged them to use 'Debian main' in their Linux System
definition but got no response.
Some links to discussions over the years:
http://lists.debian.org/4CFF40A0.2070608@kingswood-consulting.co.uk
http://lists.debian.org/20080702225935.GC27846@einval.com
http://lists.debian.org/20110204151502.GA10245@upsilon.cc
http://lists.debian.org/20120704032402.GA11034@upsilon.cc
http://lists.debian.org/4FF473CC.4020103@debian.org
Some links to other critism of OIN:
http://faif.us/cast/2010/dec/07/0x04/
https://lwn.net/Articles/446441/
Apparently the reason they invite entities without patents is because
it helps promote OIN, as a result the usual advice I hear in some
circles is to join OIN but demand anonymity.
> 3) Are there any specific patent guidelines for Debian derivatives? I didn't
> find anything relevant in: https://wiki.debian.org/Derivatives/Guidelines
This applies to all community distros, including Debian derivatives:
http://www.debian.org/reports/patent-faq
I've added a link to the guidelines in the 'see also' section.
> 5) Do you recommend me other royalty-free cross-licensing patent
> network to apply to?
Focusing on these projects might be better:
http://www.eff.org/patent-busting
http://endsoftpatents.org/
--
bye,
pabs
http://wiki.debian.org/PaulWise
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