“Software patents are much in the news these days, and while
there’s a lot of heated verbiage on the subject, there’s not much
argument from first principles. So I tried some, and, to my
surprise, ended up concluding that there may be real affinity
between patents and Open-Source software.“Let’s suppose it’s a couple of centuries ago and you’re a
bright young thing with a bright idea; you’ve invented a better way
to churn butter or print books or wash clothes. So, how are you
going to go about making money? Well, you can use your good idea in
your own dairy or print-shop or laundry, which is better than
nothing…”