Two weeks ago I spent some time at EclipseCon. It was great to see such an enthusiastic crowd of Open Source developers and commercial companies supporting the Eclipse Foundation. My client Actuate is the steward of the BIRT project.
The event brought to mind the fact that this vibrant community is the exact opposite of the ongoing frenzy of Patent disputes (see my previous entry "The Insidious Patent Trolls..."). As technology mash-ups, such as AJAX, and ‘co-opertition’ communities, such as Eclipse, become the norm, perhaps companies that adopt a hybrid commercial/Open Source approach to innovation will move beyond the capital draining Patent disputes so prevalent in today’s technology industry.
Perhaps Patents will be eliminated from the technology arena altogether? The idea being that no one would be competing at the level of the most basic technology, the things that have all been figured out, encouraging rapid standardization and leaving more room for innovation.
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