In my view--keeping in mind I Am Not A Lawyer (IANAL)--there are two basic questions here:

1. Does ZFS truly infringe upon the WAFL patents?
2. Is the WAFL patent valid, or is there enough prior art to invalidate the patent?

Who contacted whom first is irrelevant to me.  If NetApp can show that the WAFL patent is valid, that there is not sufficient prior art to invalidate the patent, and that ZFS significantly copies WAFL structures, processes, and methodologies, then they have a valid point and Sun needs to make it right.

If not, then NetApp needs to adjust to the competition that will stem from ZFS' broader adoption and continue to differentiate themselves--through innovation--in ways that benefit the customers.

My 2 cents, FWIW.


--
Scott



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com on behalf of Glenn Walker
Sent: Thu 10/25/2007 1:09 PM
To: No More Linux!; toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: RE: The End of All Filers?

Let me see if I got this straight:

ZFS copied the snapshot technologies, and general way that WAFL works,
which is patented by NetApp.  Then released it to the open source
community.

NetApp responds with 'cease/desist' method, which I'm sure SUN would do
if someone were to outright copy the SUN kernel (or something else -
like their nifty CPUs).

SUN is now on the high-and-mighty track of touting freedom of
information and how patents are effectively evil when used to stifle
competition... yet they are going to use same said patents to try to
force NetApp to give up their suit?

What did I miss?

It sounds very much as if SUN copied the stuff that makes WAFL what it
is, and gave it to everyone in the world as a way to hurt NetApp's
business model.

I'm all for free info, and would love to see ZFS on a small storage
platform (OpenFiler\FreeNAS) in my house, but this is fishy and
seemingly unethical on SUNs part.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-toasters@mathworks.com [mailto:owner-toasters@mathworks.com]
On Behalf Of No More Linux!
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 10:32 AM
To: toasters@mathworks.com
Subject: The End of All Filers?

http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/harvesting_from_a_troll