Z:gnu-www-ja-microsoft-old--a14312-Secrecy and patents do threate/en

Secrecy and patents do threaten free software. They have obstructed us greatly in the past, and we must expect they will do so even more in the future. But this is no different from what was going to happen even if Microsoft had never noticed us. The only real significance of the &ldquo;Halloween documents&rdquo; is that Microsoft seems to think that the GNU/Linux system has the potential for great success.