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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/12/09
So, they patented GKSudo? #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
Actually, it could be tons of other things.
But I'm shure Microsoft haters will find in this yet another reason to call it evil or whatever. Have fun.
Sounds more like a patent to protect itself from random unknown companies or "inventors" that comes out of nowhere claiming they made the patent first and sueing for ridiculous ammounts of money.
On another note, serious question here, has Microsoft ever sued other companies with frivolous reasons?
Answer is probably yes, but I can't remember anything like that.
You know, like Apple sueing fruits companies or colleges/universities for using a logo that looks like... you know, apples. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
People from Slashdot have already critiqued this to death and the general consensus on the pro-Linux Slashdot is that it's not sudo and this is probably MS filing a defensive patent application so as to ward off potential future lawsuits. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
However, while IANAL, it would seem that OSX's "enter an administrator username and password to continue" screens, that certainly pre-date the filing of this patent, are quite similar, and should likely count as prior art. The main "invention" here, seems to be the pre-populating of a list of user accounts that have the permissions to perform the requested task. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
11/12/09
sudo clothes -off #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
What you've quoted is not the "patent claim," but rather the abstract, which has no practical legal significance in defining the scope of the patent.
The claims define patent scope, and these claims include many features that go well beyond what sudo ever did. Whether it would have been obvious to *modify* sudo to do these things is a separate point--it's a facile mischaracterization of this patent to say that MS has "patented sudo."
(It's worth noting that a substantial amount of prior art relating to sudo was disclosed and considered by the PTO in the prosecution of this patent, which strongly cuts against the "obvious to modify" question raised above--the PTO is clearly aware of sudo, and has determined that these claims are patentably distinct from it.) #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
...
"Seriously?"
"Yes... or else I'll format C: and partition your bodies until your own chkdsk's won't recognize the fragments!"
...
"/sigh" #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
or else I'll mkdosfs -vF 32 /dev/hda #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
EDIT: well its my opinion. i didnt read the full patent, but the first bit sounds like it is describing something like the "run as" window i got once or twice in XP.
11/12/09
The Microsoft patent is explicitly only for use in the case that a computer reads code protected by another user, and requires user interaction to gain that permission. #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
[patimg1.uspto.gov]
Wow, i hope that link works. But that hardly looks like sudo
i hop #microsoftsudopatent
11/12/09
"The Microsoft patent is explicitly only for use in the case that a computer reads code protected by another user, and requires user interaction to gain that permission."
What? It isn't specific at all. It is for rights elevation and that is it. Rights for everything, where is the part about another user and where is the dual login? #microsoftsudopatent
09/27/09
For a good demolition of the urban legends surrounding keyboard layouts, I'd recommend this paper: http://www.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/keys1.html
09/26/09
Actually the patent mentions that it will only bring the keyboard to life with a pre-set tough gesture involving a palm and a couple of fingers. It generates a keyboard based on where your hands are, and modulates the size of that keyboard by the distance between palm and finger. Then there's a gesture to dismiss the keyboard.
So anyone who assumes that this is some kind of weird, floating keyboard that follows you around and disappears when you raise your hand....well.... you're silly.
09/26/09
Where is my neuro-interface?
09/26/09
Well you know, the QWERTY layout was originally designed for the purpose of making typing as slow as possible, so that people working on type-writers didn't move too fast for the machine.
09/26/09
09/26/09
09/26/09
09/26/09
09/26/09
Yeah, it sounds like the best solution there is for a touch screen (unless they could make a keyboard magically ascend from the screen itself), but I think I'll always prefer a physical keyboard.
The tactility of a physical keyboard... cannot be beat.
09/26/09
09/26/09
09/25/09
I'm still waiting for someone to make this happen though:
[xspblog.com]
09/25/09
09/25/09
It's one of the key positioning letters: the letter H. IIRC, the entire right hand should be one key to the right. That way, they can put the letter G on the left bar. Well, that, and J is where the rests are, along with F.
BUT, it's a prototype art piece. All it has to show is that it, well, exists.