Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!ugle.unit.no!barsoom!barsoom!tih From: tih@barsoom.nhh.no (Tom Ivar Helbekkmo) Newsgroups: comp.windows.x Subject: Re: AT&T Claims patent on part of MIT's X11 server. Message-ID: Date: 2 Mar 91 12:18:52 GMT References: <9102231551.AA01386@lightning.McRCIM.McGill.EDU> <1991Feb25.163318.14659@dsl.pitt.edu> <174251.18876@timbuk.cray.com> Sender: news@barsoom.nhh.no (USENET News System) Organization: Norwegian School of Economics Lines: 22 The "backing store" functionality of X11 is something we can go without if need be. In fact, I run X with backing store turned off on all our DECwindows workstations, because of a memory leak in the implementation. The X documentation credits several companies with letting MIT use copyrighted software in X -- including AT&T. This prominent display announcing these companies' willingness to give something for free to the community is a Good Thing, by my lights. So -- what if MIT simply dropped backing store from X, and added a prominent text to the documentation (next to the credits to various companies), saying something like "Because AT&T, unlike [list of names including DEC, Apple, etc], is committed to software hoarding and silly lawsuits, the backing store facility has been removed from X11. For more information on this issue, contact [someone at AT&T]." (A different wording should be used, I guess, but something along these lines.) -tih -- Tom Ivar Helbekkmo, NHH, Bergen, Norway. Telephone: +47-5-959205 tih@barsoom.nhh.no, thelbekk@norunit.bitnet, edb_tom@debet.nhh.no