This conversation you're having, where you're pretending to ask me questions, and pretending I say yes along the way, and pretending to drag me into an interesting conclusion... none of that is real. This kind of argument strategy didn't really work even when Plato did it.

I was employed by a company that put multiple patents in my name, I've worked with patent attorneys, and I've spent significant time in a federal court dealing with a patent infringement law suit. I would happily discard the entire patent system. It's all bullshit. And software patents worse than average bullshit. I could write for pages and pages about all the ways the US patent system is awful.

Software patents are evil, and while I'm sure someone else would've pushed the idea through if this guy hadn't, I don't see any reason to celebrate his life or mourn his death.