"The outcome of the lawsuit created ambiguity around the legal status of the Linux FAT implementation. Microsoft contends that the suit was a largely isolated incident and that there are no plans to pursue litigation against individual Linux users. For commercial Linux adopters, however, the situation is murkier. Linux is widely used on mobile and embedded devices, and many of these need to be able to read FAT-formatted removable media. "The Linux Foundation... [read full story]
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After Microsoft's claims against the Tom Tom for using FAT file system on Linux devices, many manufacturers of portable devices with Linux on FAT are worried that they will be sued by Microsoft. The Linux Foundation has issued...
Microsoft recently used its patents on some aspects of the FAT filesystem to beat TomTom into submission, with the latter ending up having to change its products, pay Microsoft and license some of its own patents to it. It...
Score one for Linux developers. Andrew Tridgell, one of the lead developers on the Samba project, may have developed a workaround which will bypass a Microsoft patent on the ubiquitous FAT, VFAT and FAT32 file systems.
James Hall 48 minutes ago · , Linux users have been wondering what Microsoft's intentions with regard to the presence of VFAT functionality in the Linux kernel might be. The Linux Foundation continues to maintain that...
A Linux developer has published a new kernel patch that provides a workaround to avoid Microsoft's patents on the FAT filesystem. The patch, which has undergone extensive legal review by patent lawyers, could make it possible...
From the PHAT dept.: The FAT file system is the file system used by MS-DOS and earlier versions of Windows. It's a relatively simple and straightforward file system, supported by just about any operating system, making it the...
Andrew Tridgell has published a patch that could make the Linux implementation of the FAT filesystem impervious to Microsoft patent claims of the kind that forced a settlement from TomTom. The patch alters the VFAT code so that...
From the 'cutting the FAT' files:In 2007, Microsoft shook up the Linux community with claims that open source allegedly infringes on as many as 235 of Microsoft's patents. Until this year, Microsoft had not actually filed any...
If you had followed the legal tussle between TomTom and Microsoft, you would know it was about the implementation of FAT filesystem in TomTom’s GPSes. According to Ars Technica, Andrew Tridgell, one of the lead developers...
Ars Technica is reporting that a new kernel patch may provide a workaround to allow use of Microsoft"s FAT file system on Linux without paying licensing fees. "Andrew Tridgell, one of the lead developers behind the Samba...
