Andrew Tridgell has posted a new patch intended to enable the kernel to work around the VFAT patents. Unlike the previous version, this patch preserves the long filename functionality.

tridge has done it again, offering a patch to Linux's VFAT filesystem that retains support for long names, while carefully avoiding ever having both a long and a short name for the same file. As before, media containing the old long/short-name combination VFAT format are still supported.

The GNU diff and patch utilities let you compare files to generate a patch that describes the changes between files. You can then apply the patch file on that machine or another. You might think to use diff and patch on XML files, since they are just text files -- and depending on your application, diff and patch might serve your needs well.

The community is at work, I see. Not only is there a prior art search going on regarding three Microsoft patents asserted against TomTom, but now Andrew Tridgell has posted some code on LKML. You'll never guess what it does?

Andrew Tridgell discusses why reading patents is usually a good idea, how to read a patent, and how to build a solid defence. Tridgell also suggests how free software could scare off patent holders.

The Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin got the same message from the TomTom story that I did: just get rid of Microsoft's FAT filesystem: The technology at the heart of this settlement is the FAT filesystem. As acknowledged by Microsoft in the press release, this file system is easily replaced with multiple technology alternatives.

Beyond the blatant PR efforts, assessments suggest the patch is a self-serving Trojan horse

With the 3DMark patch, the games will recognize your systems pixelshader and DirectX levels, allowing you to play more games, and turn up the graphical settings on many games. You will need the following things: Wine source 3Dmark patch (0.9.58 and earlier) or 3Dmark patch (0.9.59 and higher)

Microsoft filed suit against TomTom today, alleging that the in-car navigation company's devices violate eight of its patents -- including three that relate to TomTom's implementation of the Linux kernel.