[GEM Development] Digital site at Maxframe

[Owen Rudge]

> Has anyone caught up on the news that Microsoft is asserting ownership
> over the FAT file system and plans to licence it to users? I received a
> news report on this at work last week, but can't remember where it was.
> Could be PC Authority or one of the US based magazine/newsletters. I had
> a quick look at the linked MS site and, from that browse, it looks like
> the report was pretty correct.

There's been a big discussion about it on the FreeDOS and ReactOS mailing
lists. It's typical of Microsoft (or any large corporation these days) to
wait until something is widely in use (eg, with digital cameras, USB drives,
etc) and then to decide to start charging for their patents. What the
implications are for other operating systems are a bit dodgy. Hmmm, have
Microsoft been taking lessons from SCO?

Owen Rudge
http://www.owenrudge.net/

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