|
This is the oddest poll. I have no idea how to answer it. Patents haven't harmed software development. Most patents are defensive maneuvers, we just get riled up over the odd offensive patent owning jerk. Law firms have kept many of us in jobs. Loads of companies use unfair practices to maintain their companies and keep on hiring developers. Microsoft employs a lot of developers. VCs make a strange market but they pay for a lot of salaries and servers and cool sh*t. RedHat... errr, they still around? Apple... WTF have they done to development? Sun... ummm, they seem a bit odd but most of us seem to just skirt around their daft ideas. Google... when did you get affected either way by their developer decisions?
I can't really think of anyone but us developers who can harm development. Our poor quality, our moaning, supporting bad decisions to keep our jobs, working on things we hate, working on things we love but forgetting about who is going to use it, support it, maintain it. Bitching about managers instead of figuring out a solution.
We are the drivers here folks.
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote: At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
|
|
|
|
|
Initially I thought this would be a simple "just use the same values as the previous poll" but quickly realised the issues are completely different. The only thing I do regret was not adding "Our Egos".
cheers,
Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
|
|
|
|
|
Chris Maunder wrote: Our Egos
I would have voted for that.
(The poll is pretty clear though. Those patent dudes sure are evil!)
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote: At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Watson wrote: Those patent dudes sure are evil!
... except that those who vote for the USPO likely don't realize that they are just doing what the Federal Circuit started with State Street.
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/software-patent-problems-abound.ars[^]
...cmk
The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying.
- John Carmack
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Watson wrote: Patents haven't harmed software development. Most patents are defensive maneuvers
And like political correctness some people over compensate for patents. I've heard a number of stories about people or companies that have shied away from software development in a particular area for fear of accidentally stepping on someone's patent. Those fears, however unfounded they may be, harm software development. Those fears would not exist if it were not for software patents.
By the way - I'm ambivalent on the subject of software patents. I don't know enough about the issue to say either way, but I just thought I'd counter your argument for balance.
Paul Watson wrote: Google... when did you get affected either way by their developer decisions?
They publish APIs into some of their systems. That could affect development descisions.
Paul Watson wrote: I can't really think of anyone but us developers who can harm development. Our poor quality, our moaning, supporting bad decisions to keep our jobs, working on things we hate, working on things we love but forgetting about who is going to use it, support it, maintain it. Bitching about managers instead of figuring out a solution.
That I can absolutely agree with.
|
|
|
|
|
Of course, some patents are poor and have affected developers negatively. But many patents have made developers rich and protected their companies. Little companies have been protected from big companies by patent portfolios.
I agree the system needs to be overhauled but there is no consensus on how to overhaul it and no alternatives as of yet. What we have now is better than a wild west of unprotected inventions. 150 developers were I work would loose their funding if there was no route to patenting their inventions.
(We have filed 4 patents lately and I've been to a few lectures on it. My name is on two. I asked not to be listed but patent law stipulates that anyone involved in the invention must be listed or it weakens the patent considerably.)
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote: At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
|
|
|
|
|
The original goal of the patent system may have been to protect the idea developer, but that's no longer the case.
Patents are bought and sold as commodities. Infringement lawsuits are brought to control competitor's time-to-market. The U.S. Patent Office is utterly clueless on how software works and what should and should not be patentable.
There are companies now whose entire business model is based around buying up cheap patent rights and then looking around for marginal infringement cases. They find themselves big companies who would rather pay a license fee than invest the time and money to required to defend against the suit.
Frankly, the emperor has no clothes, and I'm tired of the fat naked guy running through the streets.
Software Zen: delete this;
|
|
|
|
|
If that is weird, than I suggest installing an app that monitors your time and on which type of problems. Then post it after 3 months of stats. I can promise you will be shocked.
Heck do it for the entire team and see how productive you've really been on dealing with actual problem and not the problem causing another type of problem.
Add up the hours and imagine what you could have done instead of working around some hyped up generalisation a big company software you work in all day did..
It's millions in missed opportunities, but getting paid a peanut or too for that effort in comparison is "weird"?
That's how all markets work, on efficiency not on 'on paper' productivity and 'payment of salaries'. Junk always gets filtered out and for the record: Google filtered a lot of it. Evidently the biggest MS problem has.
They affected how millions do development (but not the only to blame) and far, far more than development but hey no MS guy can understand that, so they'd go and buy, but buy what?
Another .NET implementation that won't scale to 3% of what the kids are capable of? And if you haven't heard, that productivity thing, all of their guys are up and running within 3 months tops and off and writing apps people use more and more.
(next time you search MS try: www.google.com/microsoft )
|
|
|
|
|
I don't develop with Microsoft tech. You do seem to be blaming everyone but yourself though.
FYI, Google, Microsoft, Sun etc. are all made up of developers and people like you and I.
regards,
Paul Watson
Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote: At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
|
|
|
|
|
Absolutely, too.
For most, I can tell how they can be harmful for software development - but none seems especially harmful.
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
blog: TDD - the Aha! | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist
|
|
|
|
|
Sometimes when a work is being outsourced, the companies just blindly look out for cost-cutting instead of checking about Quality and previous work history.
This many times hampers a friendly software development atmosphere.
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
Personal Homepage
Tech Gossips
A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all - he's walking on them. --Leonard Louis Levinson
|
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
