Open Source and Patent

Open source versus patent? I listen to the Podcast Command Line Heroes, hosted by Saron Yitbarek. In the episode Days of future open, open source is a topic, as it has been a topic in many if not all episodes in season one. 

When I listened to this episode, I was thinking of Open source and Patent.

Open source is about open source (!), sharing, collaboration and letting other make something new of the "original" open source code. One typical example of open source code is the Linux kernel, but there are tons of other open source code software. 

Patent is a way for a person or company to protect the object that is patented. It is a way to get credit and paid back for resources invested to make the patented object possible. It is protected for a certain period of time. But a patent means you also have to share details of what you have patented, with the aim that the idea become public knowledge and other can develop it further. This sharing of information is also a reason patent is sometime not requested.

Is there some sort of common idea of sharing between the open source code philosophy and the patent philosophy?

Not sure to what to make of this thought I got... but anyway, what do you think of it? 

No I'm heading over to Season two of Command Line Heroes! Three Seasons are currently available. One of a few podcasts I try listen to. 

Henrik Hemrin

7 January 2017