ZDNet have an interesting article about the meeting that took place earlier this week to discuss the proposed changes to European patent law, changes which pose a huge threat to open source software. The meeting appears to have been largely unsuccessful in convincing the UK Patents Office of this, however.

Open-source and free software has a great story to tell, but it needs people who can tell it in the language of the CIOs and the lawmakers. It’s an old lesson, that the most effective revolutionaries are those with radical ideas disguised behind the facade of respectability. Open source must learn to play that game — and owning your own suit may be an advantage.

This is what I want to do, ultimately. Not to just develop OSS but to actively sell its virtues to people in suits. Quite how I get there is another matter, though.