Re: exfat driver as a gsoc project: mentors wanted

Am 20.01.25 um 20:29 schrieb Robert Clausecker:
> No, though 2027 is only two years away, so if we cannot join the OIN,
> we only have to keep the driver out-of-tree for that long worst case.

Having a driver ready (and internally tested without a public release)
would be a good preparation for 2027.

BTW: 2 of the relevant patents have been filed 2009-02-20:

Hash based file name lookup:

	https://www.freepatentsonline.com/8321439.html

Contiguous file allocation:

	https://www.freepatentsonline.com/8606830.html

IIUC, these would not expire before 2029?

> As for “hosted in Europe:” Europe does not have software patents,
> so we can basically ignore the ExFAT patents if development is done
> in Europe independently of any US entity.

I'm not convinced that hosting in Europe would be safe, but I do remember
that the patented IDEA crypto code had been imported, but was not built
unless a non-standard build option was used.

Regards,

STefan