Originally posted by cooperate
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Let's say we do a deal with a patent holder where we say, OK, Fedora has N users, we just need to buy N patent licenses from you, right?
That doesn't fly, because of F/OSS licensing. One of the key required freedoms is the freedom to be able to redistribute the software. If we only bought a patent license for *you*, the Fedora user, you can't legally exercise that freedom; the software isn't really F/OSS any more.
The only patent license that actually works for a distributor of F/OSS software is a blanket license that preserves redistribution rights; we pay you a bunch of money and you say, okay, we agree that we've granted a patent license to absolutely anybody who otherwise-legally acquires a copy of the software. Which is something most patent holders are either not willing to do, or not willing to do for any reasonable amount of money.
Disclaimer: IANAL, this is not legal advice, nor is this an official Red Hat or Fedora communication. This is me on my personal time. All errors and inaccuracies in the above are my own.
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