Posts by logical

Re: Hmmm

Compaq did not release their own API. They released their own implementation of IBM's BIOS API. The cleanroom part was the implementation of the BIOS API's, not the API's themselves. The API was identical to IBM's otherwise the Compaq BIOS would have been useless.

If Google, or anyone else, implements an existing Java API, it must have identical definitions otherwise it won't work. Your argument is silly. You could easily determine the API by simply looking at any Java program which used it. And that program could be under any license, including public domain.

Also, I can certainly create audio CDs without ever purchasing the Red Book. Copyright only protects the book itself, not the knowledge it contains. That knowledge can be gotten legally in any number of ways, including simply reading the source of a program which implements CD audio creation.

@James

I have never understood the "it's not _your_ network, it's the "_the company's_ network" diatribe. Folks who say this _NEVER_ apply the same logic to their own job. Why is that? Do you refer to things that you are responsible for as "yours" or do you always refer to them as "the company's"? The personal pronouns indicate responsibility, not personal ownership.

IT is there to support users, but not just users. There are always constraints like them or not. Sometimes IT must "dictate" in order for things to actually work and be sustainable. Sometimes users want things that simply cannot be done with the resources available.