Re: The GNU Philosophy: How practical is it?

[Alexander Terekhov]

Alexander Terekhov wrote:
> 
> Rui Miguel Silva Seabra wrote:
> >
> > Sex, 2007-04-27 Ã s 17:21 +0200, Alexander Terekhov escreveu:
> > > "Alfred M. Szmidt" wrote:
> > > [...]
> > > > Dunno why I bother, but... RedHat does far more software development
> > > > than Adobe.                                                   ^
> > >                                                                 |
> > > Eh?                                                             |
> > >                                                                 |
> > > Adobe's latest 10-Q:                                            |
> > >                                                                 |
> > > Research and development................ 137,129 >--------------+
> >                                              ^
> >                                              |
> > Software Patents count here -----------------+
> 
> Same as with Red Hat's R&D numbers, I gather.
> 
> "Patents, and the patent system, are becoming increasingly important to
> the business. Deputy general counsel Webbink explains that when Red Hat
> decided to create the position that Avrunin filled, management received
> a lot of resumes from patent prosecutors. In contrast, Avrunin was a
> patent litigator at law firm Finnegan Henderson. "We found that rather
> intriguing," says Webbink. His resume made the decision makers
> question: "Do we want a good patent prosecutor? Or do we want someone
> who can keep us out of trouble?"
> 
> It appears that Avrunin wants to be both. "He's been here for 20 years
> already in dog years," says Webbink. Avrunin has been busy, in other
> words. Before he arrived, Red Hat had around 30 patent applications
> pending at the USPTO. "At the end of last quarter, we have nine issued

Such as 

7,107,314  Mail system synchronization using multiple message identifiers  
7,082,424  Method and apparatus for atomic file look-up  
7,024,499  Cache only queue option for cache controller  
6,988,142  Method and apparatus for handling communication requests at a server 
without context switching  
6,950,868  Method of and apparatus for remote monitoring  
6,944,793  Method of remote monitoring  
6,886,004  Method and apparatus for atomic file look-up  
6,754,891  Debugger system using tracepoints for computer software  

> patents out of 175 applications," 

Such as

20070089098 PASTE BY EXAMPLE  
20070061492 ZERO-COPY NETWORK I/O FOR VIRTUAL HOSTS  
20070016867 PRESENTATION MODE/FULL-SCREEN MODE INTERRUPTING ACTION PREVENTION  
20070016585 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENABLING USERS SEARCHING FOR COMMON SUBJECT 
MATTER ON A COMPUTER NETWORK TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER  
20070015118 TUTORIAL GENERATOR WITH AUTOMATIC CAPTURE OF SCREENSHOTS  
20070006301 Strong password entry  
20070006147 Using differential information entropy to detect bugs and security 
flaws in computer programs  
20070005919 Computer system protection based on virtualization  
20060248127 Conditional message delivery to holder of locks relating to a 
distributed locking manager  
20060218487 System, method and medium for component based web user interface 
frameworks  
20060200438 System and method for retrieving data from a relational database 
management system  
20060184948 System, method and medium for providing asynchronous input and 
output with less system calls to and from an operating system  
20060184942 System, method and medium for using and/or providing operating 
system information to acquire a hybrid user/operating system lock  
20060184653 System and method for creating and managing virtual services  
20060168130 Bytecode localization engine and instructions  
20060112395 Replacing idle process when doing fast messaging  
20060112374 System, method, and medium for efficiently obtaining the addresses 
of thread-local variables  
20060080385 System, method, and medium for configuring client computers to 
operate disconnected from a server computer while using a master instance of 
the operating system  
20060075059 Method and system for caching directory services  
20060075030 Self-tuning statistical method and system for blocking spam  
20060053139 Methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing 
single-node and cluster snapshots  
20060015747 System and method for detecting computer virus  
20060005256 Apparatus and method for managing digital rights with arbitration  
20050138406 Rights management system  
20050071371 Software and data file updating process  
20050021637 Electronic mail control system  
20040158717 Electronic document active content assurance  
20040153483 Mail system synchronization  
20040143776 Hot plug interfaces and failure handling  
20040143687 Cache only queue option for cache controller  

etc.

regards,
alexander.