[hackthefender]

> GNU/Linux Free software such as the GNU/Linux and FreeBSD operating systems were developed without software patents. 91% of the top 500 super computers run GNU/Linux.

This is misleading. Linux has all sorts of stuff in it that used to be under patent protection but isn't anymore because the patents expired. The entire argument for patents is that they incentivize both the creation of new things and the public disclosure of them, with the idea that eventually they will become part of the public domain. There is a complicated cost-benefit analysis here that has been studied by academics for years, which the FSF just ignores. This is fine if you view this as an advocacy piece, but not fine if you want to actually learn something about the issue.

[hackthefender]

Just to say more on this quickly, the relevant inquiry is not "does software progress without patents, yes or no?" Obviously it would. But the relevant inquiry is whether we have made more or less progress now than we would have had software patents not existed for the last 70 years.

For what it's worth, I tend to agree with the ultimate conclusion that software patents today do more harm than good. But if you want to convince policy makers, you have to address the issue on a less superficial level. And that means actually acknowledging the other side's arguments and rebutting them with evidence or counterarguments.