Re: [Debian-uk] Sun have (probably) patented apt-get
On 4 Jul 2005, at 11:44 am, Wookey wrote:
> Take a look at this patent (granted this week in europe)
>
> http://gauss.ffii.org/PatentView/EP1170667
>
> I'm fairly sure that apt-get and associated package-integratity
> checking tools could be considered infringing. (Does dpkg/apt have
> a modular structure?)
Clearly not patentable; there's surely gobs of prior art before the filing
year of 2000. This attempts to patent a generic package testing framework!
It looks to me like dejagnu would "infringe" some of these claims, if they
were valid, which they aren't.
The only claims which might be even slightly tricky to find prior art for are
the claims about assigning a "priority" to each test.
It's currently in a nine-month opposition period. Anyone want to do the work
to find and send in the opposition material?
Gee, patent quality is at an all-time low. :-(
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