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React Native is now open source

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Re: React Native is now open source

#231

Post by loceng »

geofft wrote: post #155
burke wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by Facebook… whether or not such claim is related to the Software. > The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by any party if such claim arises… from any software, product or service of Facebook. > The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by any party re…

(Someone had a post asking a good question about what this means. It got downvoted and deleted, which I think is unfortunate for a community that cares about learning about the world around it, so I'm replying here.) There are two separate kinds of legal protection at issue here, copyright and patent. The only thing that's close to covering ideas is patent law, not copyright law. (I'm assuming US law here, since that…

If you use any of their work then it opens you up to Facebook leveraging this against you. If they feel you violate a patent of theirs and they ask for a royalty or licensing fee - you can't even say it's not a valid patent or you void the right to use React Native, and anything else that has the PATENTS file in it (which is all of their stuff AFAIK) - that's why Google doesn't use it.

Re: React Native is now open source

#232

Post by jballer »

zellyn wrote: post #7

The first thing I do now on each Facebook open-source reveal, is to check the PATENTS file for the toxic second paragraph, to see if they've changed it. Sadly, no. I can't imagine being able to use this at any decent-sized company with lawyers. :-( https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/PATENTS See for example the discussions at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9111849 (eg. https://news.ycombinator.…

I wrote about something similar with VP8, which is highly patent-encumbered. Google was like:

1. You have a license to our related patents

2. You're on your own if someone else claims that your use of our stuff infringes their patents

    2a. But if the party suing is also a licensee, they lose their license.
3. You lose your license if you come after us for anything.

These kinds of licenses have network effects, and are only really effective in a mutually-assured destruction scenario.

http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/2011/03/googles-afraid-its-free...

Re: React Native is now open source

#233

Post by loceng »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #111
iheart2code wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, basically, if you sue Facebook on grounds of patent/copyright infringement for any reason, you don't get to use their software?

No, it doesn't mean that. It means that you lose the additional license to use any of Facebook's patents that may cover React. These may or may not exist.

You keep making definitive statements. Are you saying that you can keep using React Native if your patent rights are waived? That'd only be the case of those patents don't exist - but even then Facebook is stockpiling patents related to everything connected with social networks.

Also, they'll likely be patenting whatever they can out of this technology, whether it's valid or not, you'd have to fight any action that Facebook holds against you - in the meantime invalidating everything, allowing Facebook to sue you for violating potentially dozens of patents; most everyone can't afford a lawsuit.

Facebook open sourcing all of these things is purely a power play, and not trying to contribute to the developer community. The power that this is going to allow Facebook to leverage in the future could get really nasty - it's why Google isn't using any of it.

Re: React Native is now open source

#234

Post by geofft »

angersock wrote: post #153
burke wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by Facebook… whether or not such claim is related to the Software. > The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by any party if such claim arises… from any software, product or service of Facebook. > The license… will terminate… for anyone that [claims] infringement of any patent… by any party re…

but without patents nobody would ever make progress in software and innovation would be stifled

Even if we assume that to be true, the fourth of those statements still sucks. No free software license denies use to people who have the wrong political views. If you manage to get software patents outlawed in one jurisdiction, your patent license expires in all other jurisdictions. Imagine how much the FSF would love to have a clause saying, if you weaken the GPL in court, your license to use any GPL software expires... but they don't.

And even if we assume that to be true and assume that both parties believe in patents want a robust, well-functioning software patent system, that clause still sucks. If Facebook and I both invent something at roughly the same time and apply for patents, and the Patent Office misreads our applications and grants them both, and I point this out to them and I had priority (thereby invalidating some of Facebook's claims), Facebook gets to terminate all my patent licenses.

Re: React Native is now open source

#236

Post by chubs »

Hi, technical question from a long-time iOS developer here, i hope you can put my concerns at ease:

How, when you're running JS on a different thread to the iOS main thread, do you avoid race conditions? A simple example:

* Say a button's event handler pushes a new view controller onto the navigation stack, what's to stop the user from tapping the button twice very quickly before the JS thread gets a chance to service the first tap, eg it may be garbage collecting or busy elsewhere, and once it's free again it runs the handler twice and pushes two view controllers onto the navigation stack?

Looks great by the way, i'll certainly check it out.

Re: React Native is now open source

#237

Post by Touche »

amasad wrote: post #194
itsbits wrote: post #63

can we use Babel over the top of it?

Nothing should stop you from doing it (if you can navigate your way around the codebase). However, we want to make it easy for you to use your favorite tools. Read more about how the packager currently works https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/package...

If you support ES6 why is it Commonjs?

Re: React Native is now open source

#238

Post by oyvindkinsey »

curiously wrote: post #173

omg...I'm so excited still wish there was a way to develop for iOS on windows platform but I guess I will have to purchase a mac now if I want to build mobile apps

With RN, you really only need XCode to build the initial app and the final build for submission - everything in between can be done on any platform that can run the packager with a phone for actual testing. So if you have a friend with a mac, you're good!

Re: React Native is now open source

#239

Post by azakai »

magicalist wrote: post #223
azakai wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that Apache and GPL are well-established (perhaps not GPL3 yet though?), and that encourages stability to use them. But this new patent license is stronger. If it would make the industry safer from patent armageddon in the long term, it might be worth the effort to popularize yet another license.

The reason is not just that Apache is well established, it's that it's sane in its extent. Let's say 10 years from now Facebook decides to go on the warpath over fairly bogus patents. The EFF puts the headline patent on their Most Bogus patent busting list and then puts out the cry for "who is with us?" No company using any Facebook open source code answers. How does that make the industry safer?

Well, let's say that Facebook is using other company's code with a similar patent grant. Then Facebook can't go on the warpath in the first place.

I understand there might be a chicken-and-egg problem here. But the final outcome seems optimal with this license. And someone has to go first.

Re: React Native is now open source

#240

Post by joslin01 »

woah wrote: post #69
joslin01 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're learning iOS development, stick to learning iOS development. A framework, no matter how cool and neat it is, will not replace pure iOS development for serious apps. Also ask yourself a question, do you really think you can call yourself an iOS developer when the only way you truly know how to create apps is with React?

What is it about the "seriousness" of an app that would demand Apple's crappy interface builder?

Haha crappy. Hard to take anything you say seriously if you really believe that.
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