News and feature lists of Linux and BSD distributions.

3 days ago · Some patent encumbered open source software is included in GeckoLinux which is not available in the default installation of openSUSE. Special attention has been given to the quality of …

Oct 3, 2022 · Since Fedora does not have a license for these patents and is backed by the American company Red Hat, the project is looking at disabling support for the patent-encumbered code which, …

May 8, 2023 · Without enabling RPM Fusion, it is impossible to play anything that uses a patent-encumbered codec, which is a lot of media. Adding the RPM Fusion repositories is not a complicated …

Jul 27, 2022 · Distros should be aware that by providing a patent encumbered driver, they are exposing themselves - not the end user, to severe penalties for breach of patent terms.

Both "open" and "closed" source code can be covered by patents - there's an overlap in the sense that patent law can make it difficult to exercise your right to redistribute open source software that is …

Nov 21, 2022 · The only drawback to using them is the extra work needed to get around the issues with patent encumbered software. If I had to pick one truly negative thing to say about Fedora 37, it would …

Aug 1, 2005 · And are we going to witness an endless series of patent infringement law suits against Linux companies? Whatever it is, it seems that the largest software company in the world is getting …

That's a policy choice. As far as patent-encumbered media codecs go, though, those are simply not legally redistributable.

Red Hat had (before the IBM acquisition) more than 2000 patents, many covering code in Linux, plus a patent pledge that helps protect their users from patent trolls. This is better than releasing all patents …