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Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2018 14:34:35 +0100
From: Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.org>
To: mototaka.kanematsu@toshiba.co.jp
Cc: pgsql-www@postgresql.org, pgsql-core@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: Wiki editor request
In-Reply-To: <201804040544.w345iDqv000344@toshiba.co.jp>
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 <201804040544.w345iDqv000344@toshiba.co.jp>
Message-ID: <1e5d62a3f3b2c66f6d9581b85ff9b835@postgresql.org>
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On 2018-04-04 06:44, Mototaka Kanematsu wrote:
> Thank you for your response.
> 
> Actually, our team have some patents for database technology.
> That may be related to PostgreSQL, or may be not.
> 
> In private judgment, I don't enforce a patent right for PostgreSQL.
> Because we would like to join to PostgreSQL community.
> We would like to propose our idea and to contribute source code to
> PostgreSQL in near future.

Toshiba has a good reputation, and your efforts to contribute to
the PostgreSQL Community are encouraged.

The patent aspect to things though *might* be problem.

Just from the point of view that if (for example) Toshiba contribute
something useful + important... that is also covered by a Toshiba
patent.

For that situation, it would introduce a risk related to Toshiba
changing it's enforcement approach.

It would be nice to believe that would never happen.  But some of our
more aggressive commercial competitors (eg Oracle) look for
potential weaknesses like this to leverage.  eg they'd make Toshiba
an offer that's "too good to refuse" to buy just these specific patents,
and then we'd be in a lousy situation. ;)

Personally, this is just me looking ahead at potential problems, and
trying to make sure they don't happen.  It's probably something that
should be discussed by the PostgreSQL Core team (now CC'd), just to
figure out if there's a good approach for working around stuff like
this.  Toshiba would be a welcome member of our Community after all. :)


>>> Because, we developed Foreign data wrappers for NOSQL DB.
>>> I would like to add the FDW to the FDW list.
> 
> This is first step in our plan.
> 
> Could you please give me advice or opinion?

This part (advice or opinion on this) I can't personally help with, but
some of the other members should be able to. :)

Regards and wishes,

Justin Clift