Re: a what if...

On Thu, 4 Sep 2003, Michael Condouris wrote:

> What if Microsoft's change to IE is to actually patch commonly used
> plugins directly into the browser's binary?  Would this circumvent the
> patent by eliminating the call to an external executable?

Already an ActiveX component is not a seperate executable from the point
of view of cpu/os processes; it runs in the same process as the program
that uses it (Internet Explorer). Statically linking the code, rather
then dynamically, will not change this.

If statically linking were the solution to circumvent the patent, it
would not be hard for the browser-builders to provide a 'linker' program
that would statically link a plugin into the browser. Just a 'small'
change in how the stuff is distributed and updated.

From a security point of view I would consider this a blessing.

Received on Thursday, 11 September 2003 15:35:01 UTC