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>
> On 03-Nov-99 Alan Cox wrote:
> >> Almost all Linux kernels today are infringing on US patent #5,806,063
> >
> > No. The Linux code predates it.
>
> That's beside the fact that the patent is explicitly for database storage and
> sorting not for data representation in general.
>
>
If anybody's interested, I can provide source-code, dated in the first
part of this decade (1991), that uses the obvious "windowing" mechanism
to set the century byte of the CMOS chip. This is used in the Analogic
2030 arbitrary function generator. I wrote the BIOS. This source-code
is proprietary, however, to support a petition against MD, it could
certainly be referenced and possibly forced into evidence if a complaint
ever went that far.
Just because a patent was issued, it does not mean it's valid. If the
patent holder is informed that your use predates his, and it becomes
obvious that there was prior art not cited in the application, the
patent holder will usually issue an "unrestricted license" so that
nobody has to show patent validity or otherwise.
Cheers,
Dick Johnson
Penguin : Linux version 2.3.13 on an i686 machine (400.59 BogoMips).
Warning : It's hard to remain at the trailing edge of technology.
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