Patents (Re: I'm Baaack (UNIX for 64 Thread))

[fadden@uts.amdahl.com (Andy McFadden)]

In article <CHLJ9M.9uw@trc.amoco.com> zklf0b@gs87.hou.amoco.com (Fergason) writes:
>>God how classic!  Patents do not run out that quickly, and even if they did,
>>they can be renewed.  A nice 386ish chip based on the 6502???  Gimme a break.
>
>Patents last for 17 years.  I am not sure about renewal.

The idea behind patents is to encourage the distribution of ideas by
protecting the inventor.  They do last for 17 years, and aren't renewable.

Don't confuse them with copyrights, which last for much longer and follow
a different set of rules.

I doubt it matters.  AMD certainly isn't producing '486 clone chips with
Intel's blessing... they had a major court battle.

>I believe a 32bit 6502 would be awesome.

I believe it would be worthless.  Take a look at SPARC/MIPS or (better yet)
PowerPC.  By the time you added more registers and new instructions it'd
look like one of those anyway.

Making it look like a 386 would be a crime against humanity.

-- 
fadden@uts.amdahl.com (Andy McFadden)

"Our UNIX is bigger than your UNIX"
[ These are my opinions, not Amdahl policies. ]