On 12/23/05, Patrick Barnes <nman64(a)n-man.com> wrote:
The issue is that we don't just distribute the software in source
form,
and we want users and downstream to be able to build and use the
software, too.
You ducked the question i asked about reconcilation of your
statements
nicely. Yes we would like very much if software patents disappeared
off the face of the planet completely.
Let's all hold our breath waiting for that to happen.
We would also need a patent license that covers all
users and downstream before we could include this in the distribution.
We can't get a contract that does that for us.
Need and want... are two very different words. I really don't know
how important it is that the full tree be rebuildable without
additional constraint placed on the downstream rebuilder. I think
trademark policy as it stands makes that a very poorly defined goal.
So what if a rebuilder has to exclude this mp3 codec plugin when
rebuilding. He has to to exclude the fedora-logos package as well.
Excluding this one package as a rebuilder is nothing compared to the
pain of replacing the trademarked logos inside packages.
-jef