Blogging Ottinger (tim)Knuth Against Software Patents
This is a lovely letter detailing Dr. Knuth’s opinion on software patents. Indeed, he voices the fears that all of us feel. Patenting software or any other algorithm is disconcerting to say the least. What if I find that my code accidentally infringes on patents of IBM and Microsoft? What will that mean to me as a professional software consultant? A professional programmer? A hobbyist? Will it mean that we will all have to fund expensive patent searches in order to release our software as open-source? What about our blogs? What are we allowed to express in code and in text?
I sound alarmist, I know. But it’s only because I’m alarmed.
Which countries don’t have software patents?
