Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 15:52:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Chuck Robey <chuckr@mat.net> To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org> Cc: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au>, FreeBSD-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Microsoft has a patent on [] (fwd) Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9810071549200.15656-100000@picnic.mat.net> In-Reply-To: <4.1.19981007131127.041747f0@mail.lariat.org>
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On Wed, 7 Oct 1998, Brett Glass wrote: > At 11:57 AM 10/7/98 -0700, Mike Smith wrote: > > >> I just got this from another list, but it's so outrageous, I had to post > >> it here (it certainly applies to us!) Apparently, Microsoft has > >> patented array indexing! > >> > >> Take a look, it seems real! > > > >It's real, but it involves taking a character string between separators > >(eg. []) and passing it to a run-time evaluator contained in a library. > > Not quite. What it means is that there's late binding. In other words, > any INTERPRETER that can take an expression as an array subscript is covered. So that includes awk, perl, tcl, .... and almost anything constructive I might want to do with the [] operator in C++. This is then just another example of software-patent insanity. The only thing that gets me is that the damn thing is dated 1998. I'd thought maybe the patent office was through making themselves look like low-grade idiots. OK, I'll stop, I just had to post (it riled me up). > > --Brett Glass > > > ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Chuck Robey | Interests include any kind of voice or data chuckr@glue.umd.edu | communications topic, C programming, and Unix. 213 Lakeside Drive Apt T-1 | Greenbelt, MD 20770 | I run Journey2 and picnic (FreeBSD-current) (301) 220-2114 | and jaunt (NetBSD). ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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