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Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The patent doesn't appear to describe tiling window management It does though. The screenshots show grid options, and describe how the end user can place windows in the grid. It specifically complains about how MS Windows has overlapping windows. Grid + no overlap == tiling. >Indeed the patent describes a user interface to accomplish this that looks very similar to screenshots of Moom. Sure. The argument about "nove…
It may be silly, but remember that the US uses first-to-file, not first-to-invent.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Okay, I looked it up, and strictly speaking you are right, [1]. But, quoting: "The European Patent Convention (EPC), Article 52, paragraph 2, excludes from patentability, in particular 1. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; 2. aesthetic creations; 3. schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers; 4. presentations of informatio…
That's all well and good, but if you get sued you still have to pay quite a lot of money to a lawyer to prove you're right, and even if you win you're still stuck with the bill.
Unlike prior art, which often needs to be proven in court, disallowing software patents as a class means that this patent simply would not get issued in EU.
There's something fundamentally broken about the patent system.
It's difficult to say where the fault lies. I would rather live in a world of patents than not, if we insist on sticking to the idea of not forcing research and discoveries into the public domain. What would have prevented this particular case?
The trade off with patents is that the author will, in exchange for a limited monopoly, reveal his invention to "promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts". In the case of software patents, the things that are patented are not worth this trade off and, IMO, are a net drag on Progress.
As a developer, I'm making Progress in spite of patents. Software patents are a bit like giving tax breaks to oil companies when we are awash in cheap oil - the cost isn't worth it.
Whenever a client wants to patent what I've done for them, I grit my teeth and fill out the paperwork they ask me to. My reluctance is partly because I know it is making the world a worse place for developers and partly because I feel ashamed that they would consider it patent-able - like getting your crayon drawing put up in the Louvre.
are there any open source alternatives to Moom?
Cinch and SizeUp. http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/ http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ Been using them for a few years now. I'm quite happy. The combination, after you configure it, is superior to the Windows implementation.
If anyone is looking for an alternative: I put together a grid based window manager without an UI some months ago. https://github.com/janten/keypad-layout
As a web dev, I think I'd like to see this work like a css grid. Width then height. So, ^3^2 would be three columns two rows. Maybe that won't work in practice. Maybe I'll play with the code to see.
If anyone is looking for an alternative: I put together a grid based window manager without an UI some months ago. https://github.com/janten/keypad-layout
As a web dev, I think I'd like to see this work like a css grid. Width then height. So, ^3^2 would be three columns two rows. Maybe that won't work in practice. Maybe I'll play with the code to see.