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Thread: Americans Lose FAT

  1. #1
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    Americans Lose FAT

    This is very depressing:

    http://news.com.com/Microsofts+file+...5447&subj=news
    Code:
    Two patents covering one of Microsoft's main Windows file-storage systems are valid after all, federal patent examiners have decided.
    
    The decision, announced Tuesday by the software giant, effectively ends a two-year saga over the patents and reverses two non-final rulings--the latest issued in October--in which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Microsoft's claims.
    
    In their latest action, filed last week, the examiners concluded that the company's File Allocation Table (FAT) file system is, in fact, "novel and non-obvious," entitling it to patentability. Now the office is in the process of issuing a "patent re-examination certificate," which signals the finality of the decision, a Microsoft representative said.
    
    The FAT file system, a common means of storing files, was originally developed for Windows but is also employed on removable flash memory cards used in digital cameras and other devices. Some Linux- and Unix-related products also use the system to exchange data with Windows.
    So....does this mean that FAT won't be the default on pen drives and iPods anymore (therefore making them read only in Linux with NTFS)?

    Darn.
    Those folks who try to impose analog rules on digital content will find themselves on the wrong side of the tidal wave.
    - Mark Shuttleworth

  2. #2
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    why does it seem that microsoft is so determined to make us hate them?

  3. #3
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Quote Originally Posted by drizek
    why does it seem that microsoft is so determined to make us hate them?
    I do not think they want us to hate them..... they just dont give a damn!!! Looks like Microsoft is clearing up the battlefield for Vista to come in and just take over.

  4. #4
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    They can have FAT! I'll be here cuddling with ext3 and ReiserFS
    ArchLinux 0.8.0
    Associate Member of the Free Software Foundation

  5. #5
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyral
    They can have FAT! I'll be here cuddling with ext3 and ReiserFS
    bingo

    screw FAT anyways

  6. #6
    Iandefor is offline Grande Half-n-Half Cinnamon Ubuntu
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Poofy: Ipods come formatted with HFS, not FAT. Just a minor correction.
    This space intentionally left blank.

  7. #7
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyral
    They can have FAT! I'll be here cuddling with ext3 and ReiserFS
    Ahh but see then we would have issues with Flash media for Linux. You know that the manufacturers won't switch to ext2 (not much point in journaling on those drives) since Windows doesn't support it (and never will). MS will just license it under favorable pricing that wouldn't raise the price of the end product high enough to affect the consumer. This happened with the MP3 format before. I really hope that it doesn't go that way and that the flash manufacturers come together in a consortium to either adopt one of the open FS's or develop their own. If all or at the very least the biggest manufacturers do that MS will be forced to include the driver by default.
    They can have my fat tho, I don't need it
    Since I get asked alot, I am originally from Ukraine but am Russian by nationality. My nick means specter in Russian.

  8. #8
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Quote Originally Posted by Iandefor
    Poofy: Ipods come formatted with HFS, not FAT. Just a minor correction.
    iPods that sync with Macs are formatted with HFS.

    iPods that sync with Windows or Linux are formatted with FAT32.

  9. #9
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    A relevant link

    3 Initiatives to Improve the Patent Mess Announced - Updated

    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...06011009141979


    A small excerpt:

    "Microsoft has won a debate where they were the only party allowed to speak, in that the patent re-examination process bars the public from rebutting arguments made by Microsoft," he told CNET News.com. "We still believe these patents are invalid and that a process that gave the public equal time to present its positions would result in them being found as such."
    The idea of copyright did not exist in ancient times, when authors frequently copied other authors at length in works of non-fiction. This practice was useful, and is the only way many authors' works have survived even in part. -- Richard Stallman

  10. #10
    Iandefor is offline Grande Half-n-Half Cinnamon Ubuntu
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    Re: Americans Lose FAT

    Quote Originally Posted by adriantry
    iPods that sync with Macs are formatted with HFS.

    iPods that sync with Windows or Linux are formatted with FAT32.
    The default formatting is HFS. Oh, and My Ipod, which I use with my Linux box, is formatted with HFS. There are packages which let you deal with with HFS in POSIX-Compliant systems. There are a few available in the repo's. Search for hfs.
    This space intentionally left blank.

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