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LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

legoos.io

71–80 of 83 posts

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#71
post #7

So, actually reading the paper. What it appears that they are doing is blowing up the concept of a 'server' entirely, and replacing the system bus with network. So you can have a bunch of 'servers' racked together which create a pool of cpus, ram, storage, and so on, all of which are connected by the network. And then they pull from this pool of resources to create vNodes which are like virtual machines. I like the i…

Isn't this what Mesos is?

http://mesos.apache.org/

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't want their trademark turning into a noun (or a verb), just like Velcro doesn't want their trademark to be used to refer to "hook and loop" [1]. It's not unreasonable for them to try to protect their trademark. 1 - https://youtu.be/rRi8LptvFZY

Yeah and it's not unreasonable for people to push back and say "I'm going to call them Legos if I want to." Obviously they aren't going to go and sue a mommy blogger because she refers to Legos wrong (much less me saying it on Hacker News), but still. At least Velcro has a sense of humor about it. They recognize that no one in the real world is going to follow their rules, but they still have to say that they want yo…

I actually agree with you. Both sides are reasonable. I also didn't think of your last paragraph.

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#73
post #49

LEGO have a very friendly[1] explanation that they must pursue legal action to protect their trademark internationally. They have rules about using their trademark in names, logos, websites and URLs. [1] https://www.lego.com/en-sg/legal/notices-and-policies/fair-p...

Really makes one wonder how a project like this can go on this long without this obvious problem coming up. How many hours were spent writing an OS (not a trivial task), plus making this nice looking website and graphics, plus all the research papers cited etc? They even went to a conference!

[deleted]

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#74
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You broke their rules by not adding a trademark symbol after the word LEGO. You'll be receiving a C&D letter from their legal team shortly. :) Some of their rules are ridiculous, for instance I have to use all upper case and am not allowed to use the word as a noun, for instance to call them "Legos" (I must say LEGO™ bricks, even though many of the pieces are not at all brick shaped). Sorry but no. That said, I'm sur…

The proper term is Lego elements, not bricks.

Never that term, but that seems like it is even less likely to be used than "bricks."

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#75

LEGO have a very friendly[1] explanation that they must pursue legal action to protect their trademark internationally. They have rules about using their trademark in names, logos, websites and URLs. [1] https://www.lego.com/en-sg/legal/notices-and-policies/fair-p...

If you look at the actual trademarks you will see that there is no registration for Operating Systems. Trademarks are only for specific goods and services, you can't globally prevent use of a word.

[1] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [2] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [3] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754...

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#76

Hi one of the paper authors here. Most of the discussions here center around the legal concern rather than the project itself. We are working on that. But for now we decide to take down the website first. Sorry for the inconvenience folks and thank you all for the input.

Given that they took down their site... in case anyone is interested in the actual project (and not the trademark issues with the name) -- here are some links:

https://www.usenix.org/conference/osdi18/presentation/shan

https://github.com/Wuklab/LegoOS

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#77

LEGO have a very friendly[1] explanation that they must pursue legal action to protect their trademark internationally. They have rules about using their trademark in names, logos, websites and URLs. [1] https://www.lego.com/en-sg/legal/notices-and-policies/fair-p...

If you look at the actual trademarks you will see that there is no registration for Operating Systems. Trademarks are only for specific goods and services, you can't globally prevent use of a word. [1] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [2] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [3] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754...

IANAL but I don't think that applies to made up words. I can't create a new type of apple and brand them Mozilla Apples

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look at the actual trademarks you will see that there is no registration for Operating Systems. Trademarks are only for specific goods and services, you can't globally prevent use of a word. [1] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [2] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754... [3] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4806:754...

IANAL but I don't think that applies to made up words. I can't create a new type of apple and brand them Mozilla Apples

[deleted]

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#79

Incoming DCMA takedown notice in 3... 2.... (seriously though, Lego is famous for being bulldogs in regards to their trademark/brand!)

In what way is this "bulldog" behaviour? Not letting people use your distinctive brand name and trademarks in their commercial website is mild brand protection at best. Super obvious.

I use that word all the time to describe going after someone/something aggressively. I'm not against it, and would "bulldog" anyone that ripped off my brand, open source or otherwise!

Re: LegoOS: A Disseminated, Distributed Operating System

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for citing this. LEGO is notorious for protecting their trademark. It was a really silly name to use and they will definitely get a C&D quickly.

If LEGO doesn't protect their mark, they may lose the ability to protect it. That's trademark law 101.

Ugh, no, it's not. This is a commonly repeated myth. The circumstances in which you could even possibly lose control of a trademark in this way (genericization, abandonment) are very narrow. A quick search brings up a more detailed explanation than I have time to type up tonight: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not...
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