[Foundation-l] Freedom, standards, and file formats

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

John Vandenberg wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 9:15 AM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen
> <cimonavaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Erik Moeller wrote:
>>     
>>> I don't think there's any question that we are committed to making
>>> sure that every piece of user-facing content, including interactivity,
>>> can be accessed using 100% open source software. That's an important
>>> consensus. The primary issue is the question of parallel distribution,
>>> which is one on which reasonable people can disagree. We should
>>> collect as much data as possible to help the Board reach a decision on
>>> that question.
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> Simply because your first statement is in fact totally inaccurate, it is
>> clearly a very useful clarification, coming as it does, from someone in
>> your position.
>>
>> :-)
>>
>> Nevertheless, the statement is not in any shape or form relevant to the
>> discussion about document formats. (For those joining the discussion
>> late, software and document formats are quite separate things, only very
>> tangentially and rarely significantly meeting - ...
>>     
>
> Mixing the two compounds the confusion.
>
>   
>> I think the brouhaha
>> about Lempel-Ziv buried that question for a while)
>>     
>
> I'll bite...
>
> Lempel-Ziv brouhaha ?
>
>   

I am aware that I am dating myself there.

As I recall it, (and my recollection is as ever fallible)
there was a claim by some that a compression format
was protected. And it was upheld. But the mathematical
algorithm wasn't protected, so a totally equivalent
format was created (and if I recall improved upon) later,
and the original claimants for protection got their butts
spanked, even though their claim held.


Yours,

Jussi-Ville Heiskanen