STYMA, ROBERT E (ROBERT) wrote:
Robert P. J. Day:
i'm not sure i agree. as a previous poster mentioned, a patent on
the long names featurs of FAT has the potential to impact a lot of
handheld/digital/personal devices -- PDAs, digital cameras, etc.
Microsoft hoping to rake in more revenue from appliances using *their*
technology, more than trying to prevent people using it...
Wouldn't such devices be better off with something like UDF, instead
though?
This raises the question as to exactly what would have to be licensed.
Since the format of a FAT file system has long been documented would
you need a license to read at FAT file system, write a FAT file system,
create a FAT file system, or just have the file system on a device?
I read the patents quickly, and there are two things which are
patented: the use of long file names, and the API to read and
write directory entries with LFNs. FAT itself is not patented,
since it has been in use since 1984 or so. (At least FAT12 is.)
Mike
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