Kernel 2.6 options that should be used on Fedora Core 2

[Jef Spaleta]

Martin Mewes wrote:
> That's not the point.
> Kernel-Support goes for incorporating a GPLed kind of NTFS-reading.
> Are you really sure that Mandrake or SuSE gave money to M$ in order to 
> put this into their distro?

I AM really sure that mandrake and Suse..up till very recently were
companies headquartered outside the US. Software patents are very much a
jurisdictional legal issue. The liability a company faces with regard to
software patents is something that a company's legal department has to
wrap their heads around. Now, clearly Suse and Mandrake have come to a
different conclusion as to the level of risk and the level of liability
they face on the NTFS issue. But unless you are a lawyer versed in the
intimate details of international intellectual property issues..you will
be hard press to state in a believable fashion that you think Red Hat
has made the incorrect choice being a company headquartered in the
United States..while both Mandrake and Suse are headquartered in Europe.

It's not a matter of whether or not the NTFS is patent encumbered or
not... MS has patents on aspects of the NTFS filesystem its a fact. What
is at issue is how one interprets the scope of MS patent claims in
relation to the NTFS techology in the kernel, and more importantly the
risk of litigation that MS could bring down on a company infringing on
their patents. I doubt you are in a position to credibly argue that
Mandrake and Red Hat are in equal positions of risk in case MS decides
to launch a patent lawsuit on the matter. Maybe Mandrake's lawyers feel
Mandrake's risk is non-existent and maybe being a French company
Mandrake's risk of a lawsuit is lower...who the hell knows.  The point
is its legally risky for Red Hat in Red Hat's legal counsel's
estimation, and I doubt anyone on this list is in a position to
contradict that with smoking gun prior art evidence that invalidates
MS's patent claims.

So unless you can convince Red Hat legal...that the risk of including
NTFS support is far lower than their current assessment of the
situation... you are wasting breath and bandwidth rehashing this issue
yet again.

-jef"because even lawyers disagree on risk assessment...but good lawyers
tend to be conservative about it...it will be interesting to see how
Novell's lawyers interpret the risk now that they own Suse"spaleta