Contrary to Common Myths, Free Software and GNU/Linux Are Typically Way Ahead of Proprietary Software (Which Copies and Then Patents)

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2020-07-27 16:23:59 UTC
Modified: 2020-07-27 16:23:59 UTC

But there's no time to properly assess prior art and GNU/Linux sites like Techrights are blocked by the European Patent Office (EPO)

Office Poznan

Summary: Examiners are urged/pressured to assess so-called 'inventions' in the domain of software; not only are these not patentable (patent-ineligible) but most of the time they're not novel either (the real inventors never patented these and would not bother, either)

THE TRUTH of the matter is, software patents should not be granted in Europe. But corrupt management nowadays compels examiners to do so anyway; both António Campinos and Benoît Battistelli block Techrights and, as Florian Müller pointed out half a decade ago, this means that they limit examiners' access to prior art. What kind of patent office is this? Great Firewall of China? Eponia's copy of it?

Free software enthusiasts will likely be able to explain the history of GNU, which predates Linux by nearly a decade. Well before Windows 95 or even Windows 3.11 (when the monopoly started to gather momentum) there were already decent systems, both from the GNU and BSD camps (the UNIX/POSIX realm). There was also Apple, but it was very expensive. Nowadays it seems increasingly evident that Apple and Microsoft mostly imitate and rarely innovate; but guess who gets the patents at the end? The first to apply, not the first to implement or 'invent'...

A meme with examples:

Star Trek Vs MCU superheroes: I now have a 'dark mode'; GNU/Linux did that in the 1991-95 era; You can now install anything from one place; Ever heard of apt-get? We only have $100,000,000,000 in debt and 100,000 patents; We borrow and patent nothing

"We borrow and patent nothing..."

That sums it up.

Free software isn't crafted based on proprietary code, whereas the opposite is sometimes true. Companies like Apple and Microsoft habitually 'borrow' code that's Free/libre to craft proprietary ripoffs. The opposite isn't possible, at least not legally, and it's easy to get caught; it's almost unavoidable because a Free software developer's code lays bare for all to see (and for companies to compare to their own). Remember the SCO lawsuit? How did that work out for SCO?

Software patents are in general a very dumb idea because software changes very fast and things are copied a lot, typically without it infringing any law. It's time to put an end to such patents, completely. ⬆

Lacking Business Model, Bluesky Has Become Slop and Gravitates Towards Plagiarism, Bots: LLM slop/plagiarism under the guise of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI)
In Time for April Fools (and Easter), 30,000 Oracle 'Pink Slips' While People Are Asleep: Oracle probably has no choice but to fire a ton of people
SLAPP Censorship - Part 29 Out of 200: Violent Language Won't Go Away When You Use It in Your Site, Blog, and Social Control Media: abuse began in 2012 because I had politely and accurately criticised Red Hat
Gemini Links 31/03/2026: Five Years on Gemini (Rob's Gemini Capsule), OFFLIFIRSOCH 2026, and More: Links for the day
Slopfarms Persist, But Google Seems to Have Delisted Many: We are still checking
Links 31/03/2026: More Energy Shortages Noted, Taylor Swift Faces Trademark Infringement Suit: Links for the day
Chaff, Slop and Spam Help Distract From Parallel Crises at IBM: IBM seems very eager to undermine discussion about what goes on inside
IBM-Spawned Lexmark Sold, Then Came Mass Layoffs, Now the CEO Who Did This is Leaving: IBM is really not a magnet for talent at this point
Not April Fools But April First: Red Hat Staff Becoming "IBM": claims of mass layoffs set to kick off at IBM some time soon
Gemini Links 31/03/2026: Antenna Packed Up, AuraGem and AuraSearch Maintenance: Links for the day
Links 31/03/2026: More Social Control Media Bans, BBC Now Run by GAFAM (US) Executive: Links for the day
'Broligarchs' Don't Want Science, They Want Entertainers to Entertain Them (and Make Them Richer): Of course this will result in things getting worse in the sciences and everyone who relies on the sciences
When Republics Turn From Democratic Governments Into Imperialistic Dictatorships: What goes on in the US would require talking about politics
Companies That Have Nothing Except Buzzwords and Promises Will Perish: Dishonest media will perish along with the companies it is covering up for
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to be Grilled in Two Weeks' Time by the British Government for "Recent Regulatory Failures": we escalated to our politicians
GNU/Linux Will Thrive as Long as It's Modular, Not Monolithic: To IBM, it's all about money. Nothing else matters.
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part X - People Are Leaving: "I was happy to be at the EPO in the beginning, but since I realized it's all a big mafia"
IBM's 33 Years as a "Financial Engineering" (Accounting Tricks) Company: In relation to Red Hat, this "financial engineering" involves culling many workers and trying to replace them with slop
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 30, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, March 30, 2026
Links 31/03/2026: Rising Costs, Cyberattacks, Novo Patent Expiry: Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2026: American Spring, Distributed Systems Simulator, and Calculus for Electronics: Links for the day
SUEPO Central Made a Strike (or Striking) Success: Europe has more than enough qualified patent officials
IBM Layoffs and Their Expected Scope in April 2026: Such layoffs impact not only IBM "proper"
SLAPP Censorship - Part 28 Out of 200: Facing Consequences for Impersonation and Worse: It's not "funny". It is moreover libellous.
Links 30/03/2026: South Korea Next to Curb Social Control Media Addiction and Manipulation, Notorious Patents in the US Challenged: Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2026: Going Back to Wrist Watches and Why LLMs in Programming Suck: Links for the day
Did IBM Pay thestreet.com for Puff Pieces? (Like It Did With Forbes): If so, there is no disclosure
Wikipedia - Funded by Slop-pushing Companies and 'Broligarchs' - Gave Benefit of the Doubt to Slop, Then Regretted It: Wikipedia sucks. Without slop it'll suck a little less.
Payoffs of Lifelong Commitments: "The Lifelong Activist"
Links 30/03/2026: "We Can’t Income-Tax Ultra-Elites"; "The Pirate Bay’s Oldest Torrent Turned 22": Links for the day
Today, Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) Goes on Strike That Can Last Until 2027. Nobody in the Media Covers This!: "We stand with the protesters"
When the Cost (or Time) of Maintenance Exceeds the Value: In recent years it seems like more people learn to remove things from their lives, not add more things
Passage of Wealth Upwards, Blaming the Victims: Tim Sweeney's net worth is 5.1 billion USD according to Forbes
More Media Needs to Tell the Public Slop is a Giant Bubble, It Should Stop Taking "Sponsorship" Money to Inflate This Bubble: If enough of (what's left of) the media changes its tune and quits being a parrot of GAFAM, then we can debate slop like grown-ups
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 29, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, March 29, 2026
Trying to Hide One's Abuses by Imposing Silence on Critics ("My Profile Was Private"): With enough daylight, sooner or later everyone knows you are a vampire
Fedora Badges System Shows the Demise of Fedora Under IBM: IBM isn't good at keeping what it buys
IBM is Sunsetting Red Hat, It Only Uses the Brand and the Shell: IBM buys or spins off companies as containers for "toxic assets" and debt
Cisco Systems is a Still Weak Spot With Bug Doors: nothing to offer except storytelling
EPO Strike Begins Today and It's the Longest One Yet (Can Last a Year): Where's the media?
Gemini Links 30/03/2026: Approaching April and Arvelie Calendar: Links for the day
No Daylight Saved: Is there still any practical reason for this ritual?
Microsoft Azure Does Not Have "Hiring Freezes", It Has Had Mass Layoffs Every Year Since 2020: Things are always a lot worse than Microsoft formally or publicly acknowledges
SLAPP Censorship - Part 27 Out of 200: Using the Tor Network to Hide From Consequences: Only 1-2 weeks after the countersuit the Canadian attempted to deplatform several Web sites
The Limits of Inclusion: Inclusion with caution isn't "opinionated"; it's a defence mechanism, sometimes a survival instinct
Almost 20 Years After Microsoft/Novell: The mission has not changed, but the priorities evolve all the time
People Discuss Rumours of Mass Layoffs at IBM Becoming Public in 1-2 Weeks: IBM is killing its brand or its "goodwill"
LLM Slop Kills Sites, as Sites That Adopt Slop Are Doomed: People won't subscribe to such sites and visit them if they recognise it's just slop
Links 29/03/2026: Indonesia Cracks Down on Social Control Media Addiction, China Becomes World’s Scientific Superpower: Links for the day
Fedora at the Mercy of Microsoft Because of Back-Doored Kick-Switch Boot: We'll soon revisit the defamation attacks on Torvalds
Links 29/03/2026: Water Shortages and No Kings Rallies: Links for the day
The Old Days: In the early days of this site (2006) it was mostly just a couple of people, plus comments
Gemini Links 29/03/2026: Return to Gopherspace, "Zen of Marking Playing Cards": Links for the day
The Real XBox is Dead, So Microsoft is Calling Everything "XBox" Now: It even wanted to run a campaign to convince everybody that XBox is not actually a console
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 28, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, March 28, 2026

Contrary to Common Myths, Free Software and GNU/Linux Are Typically Way Ahead of Proprietary Software (Which Copies and Then Patents)

Recent Techrights' Posts