From: Nicolas Mailhot Nicolas.Mailhot@laPoste.net

Like you perhaps ? In every single pro-software-patent conference I've been to or read about the speaker was an IT lawyer. The problem is - IT lawyers do not write any software code. If they did they wouldn't have any time for law. Anyway I don't see how antagonising as many people on the list as possible is going to help your cause.

What "cause"?

The "cause" that sometimes people have the right to choose? That people do have the right to innovate and be granted patents?

As much as I believe in the open source philosophy, and as much as I believe in companies should share their IP, especially the more commodity it is, the reality is that it _must_ be done by "choice."

If that's a "radical" idea, then I'm guilty! The "cause" I've seen here by _some_ (not all) is that anything but open source is slavery, immoral or otherwise something that's _never_ an option and people should _not_ have the choice, especially considering that all original thought with regards to software is always commodity and belongs to the world.

-- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org