Re: Con Queso and Programming [partially OT?]

From: "Thomas Barclay" <kaladorn@magma.ca>

> Alan said:
> "Never be afraid of stealing a good idea, 
> regardless of the source." - - AEB's 
> Principles of Programming
> 
> "But be very afraid of getting caught 
> stealing a patented idea." -- Tomb's 
> Corollary to AEB's Programming Principles

Ideas as such can't be patented, only methods of
implementing them.

But given the US Patent Office's recent decisions,
then infringement is a matter not of intention or
even fact, but who has the best lawyers and/or
biggest war-chest. See Apple vs Digital Research.

Whether you actually infringe or not is completely
irrelevant, so the only thing stopping you is ethics.
Ideas can be stolen ethically, but methods not. 

But this is now more than just partially OT, except
that Intellectual Property disputes provide an even
better justification for warfare in the Tuffleyverse
than most...