

Judge Orders Facebook to Release Source Code - rams
http://gigaom.com/2009/07/31/judge-orders-facebook-to-release-source-code/

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mahmud
I am reading the patent and it pretty much describes _any_ large scale
distributed multi-user application. Their patent is mostly "workflow" and
"project" oriented, and I would think they would have had better chance
trolling Google and MS for Docs and Office, not facebook. Even IBM for Lotus
Domino.

Their platform "specs" are so widespread and so far ranging, it has every HPC
acronym thrown at it. They even specify bits of the BIOS and EPROMs.

Who are these morons and why do they think FB is nothing _but_ intuitive
development dictated by growth and everyday contact with a huge user base?
Anybody who is anybody would have come up with distributed caching of RDBMs
queries, didn't someone implement Memcached at LiveJournal? and the rest of it
is self-dictating.

Can you imagine being the FB engineers tasked with developing a platform for
applications? the last thing you want to read are patents; they're mostly
medieval sketches, and arm-chair monday-morning quarterback-engineering that
you don't want your mental model cluttered with this crap. Instead, you poach
competent people from your competitors (i.e. people who don't have the time to
lay patent mines for posterity and instead have shit to do _today_ )

A platform for managing information? get fucked!

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yason
Well said.

Patents are so controversial and stifling. It's sickening to observe such
hypocritical behaviour but, for example, my employer doesn't allow their
employees reading patent texts (at least during work hours, IIRC) in fear of
provable infringement -- yet they apply for patents themselves whenever they
can, apparently just for defensive purposes!

How much more actual, productive work could we do if we didn't have to keep
the best of our people writing documents for patent applications, occupying
their minds with such frivolous patent games while still working our arses off
to make a difference in the real world?

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ryanwaggoner
Fuck the patent system in this country. It's doing more harm than good these
days, I'm afraid.

~~~
jacquesm
Constructive use of the word 'fuck' on HN. Kudos :)

The patent system is about as broken as it gets, I'm on the swing with regards
to what to do about it, abolish it completely or overhaul it.

I also think there ought to be a strict rule that if you hold a patent you
have to market a product within a year of receiving your patent that uses your
patented stuff in an essential way.

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ubernostrum
For maximum style points, the post should have taken advantage of the fact
(related to me by my college linguistics prof) that "fucking" is one of only a
few generally-accepted (by linguists) infixes in the English language.

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TweedHeads
In the tech woeld, patents should last just one year. Enough time to build and
market your product and have the advantage of being first.

After that is open season for everybody to improve upon that patent, everybody
wins.

~~~
zandorg
The guy (Doug Englebart) who invented and patented the mouse saw it expire a
few years before the GUI explosion. Does this make sense? Cringely says it
takes 20 years for technology to come to the fore. Patents are 17 (?) years or
so. Is this fair?

~~~
TweedHeads
Yes, it is fair. The world has changed a lot and nowadays if you have a patent
worthwile funds will flood your bank account to bring it to reality in no
time.

The rest is bureaucracy or just plain bad intention.

~~~
zandorg
I agree. The reason Doug had to wait for a GUI was that microcomputers weren't
fast enough to implement them. Although I imagine the Amiga and Mac brought
him some money (patent was 1970, assume 17 years to bring 1987), I agree with
you that hardware speed and capability is enough to get going in maybe 2
years.

