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On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 12:26:08 +0000, Pete Hatton <pete@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Quoting Neil Williams <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:7 March 2005 -- The Council Presidency today declared the software agreement of 18 May 2004 to have been adopted, in violation of the procedural rules and in spite of the evident lack of a qualified [etc...etc...snipped]Can I make a suggestion. Can we have a seperate mailing list for discussion and news on software patents. I really do not think this falls under mission statement for the DCLUG (Or DCGLUG) at http://www.dclug.org.uk/linux_adm/mission.html
I beg to differ - software patents have a huge impact on all programmers and particularly open source programmers (and users) because the source (and therefore techniques which may be patented) is available. If you work in IT and aren't deeply worried about the whole software patent debacle then you have your head in the sand - there has already been one big news story of an EPO software patent that will cost the stock trading software makers and users a fortune and more are lining up including one that could affect your usage of iTunes and other software. This is all the more relevent on a free software list as software patents are exactly against what we want and stand for. A. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe. FAQ: www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html