Interview: Steve McIntyre, Debian Project Leader Apr 28, 2008, 12 :00 UTC (1 Talkback[s]) (4414 reads) (Other stories by Tom Callway)
"What's your view on the encumbered patent deals that some Linux distributions have signed up to (e.g. Xandros, Linspire)? What do you think will be the effect on Linux in particular and FOSS in general?
"I can understand that some companies may feel more comfortable by signing that kind of deal to cover themselves. Some markets like the US are notorious for problems with software patents, and I guess it comes down to a simple business decision to weigh up the costs of doing this kind of deal against the potential costs of a legal defence against a patent attack (baseless or not)..."
