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. ⬆

Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality: Neither legal nor useful
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone: people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago: That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs: We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX: Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China: Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense: Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water: Links for the day
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us: This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels: Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025: And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on: Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care: Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC: Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles: Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025: IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe: cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions: Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July: Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers: Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?: Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures: Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android: Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation: The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace: slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform: The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact: "The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025: IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft): It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.): Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat": we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying: For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes: Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates: Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China: Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education: Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves: They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague: Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence: The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth': Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process: 5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common: "Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point): IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also: Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype: Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet: If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You: Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025: IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs: we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together": This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud": Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse: That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.

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

Recent Techrights' Posts