Could a memory stick have two partitions, such that a tiny FAT12 partition that auto-installed ext2 drivers on Windows boxes to make the larger ext2 partition available? (And hence avoid patent issues)? I'm not totally sure on the practicality of that idea though?

Your comment about GPL causing problems was nothing more than vague invective so there does not seem any grounds for complaint.

BSD licences cause problems too, of a different nature of course, so it is difficult to discern any substance to your comment. Has the GPL caused the problem, or did Microsoft cause the problem with their patent? I suppose it depends on what problem is being referred to here. Is the problem that a lawsuit has arisen? Or is the problem that people cannot do sensible and ethical things with their computer equipment? The GPL seems to cause difficulties using computers via legal troubles, whereas the BSD licence seems to cause difficulties using computers via the extortion that results from people using more popular versions of modified BSD code.

"Steal" would be a bad choice of word, that's all. However, as the links describe, Microsoft had engaged in the objectionable practice of taking the Kerberos code, making some changes that were deliberately difficult to implement by other people (by making them secret and encumbered with various legal requirements that were not present in the original BSD code). The point is that they benefitted from the work of other people - as the BSD licence allows them to - and then took advantage of this work to lock in people to the Microsoft version of Kerberos. So perhaps you'd like to address that point rather than focus on a poor word choice?

take an interest in other people's opinions instead by showing some curiosity. Post something helpful or constructive