I'm not arguing as a means to an end, I would prefer to get rid of software patents. I can't really parse your last question, since we're talking about the same software, but keeping the status quo would be unsatisfactory to me.
I just think it's somewhat arbitrary to say that software is nothing but information. Yes, you can state that, and we could all agree to honor that distinction as such, but I think there's nothing a priori about it.
Sure, you could work out software problems on a chalkboard, but I would say doing so is different than creating a piece of software that does the same thing... in the same way that a story that is told verbally from one person to another (and not stored say, via video) is different than a book.
> I just think it's somewhat arbitrary to say that software is nothing but information.
As opposed to what? It is nothing but information. It has no corporeal existence. Even if you put it on a disk or a piece of paper, encoding information into a medium doesn't make it not information (and shouldn't cause it to become patentable when it wouldn't be otherwise) any more than it would for other information like a song or a photograph or English text.
> Sure, you could work out software problems on a chalkboard, but I would say doing so is different than creating a piece of software that does the same thing... in the same way that a story that is told verbally from one person to another (and not stored say, via video) is different than a book.
OK, so one exists in your mind and the other exists on paper. You can draw that distinction if you like, but what is it supposed to change? You can't patent the verbally passed down story or the book. And I think the attempt really exposes the charade of software patent claims that attempt to avoid unpatentability by claiming the physical encoding: Can you really patent the information in a book just by claiming it as a physical object encoded with that information? It seems ridiculous. But that's apparently how they justify software patents.
I just think it's somewhat arbitrary to say that software is nothing but information. Yes, you can state that, and we could all agree to honor that distinction as such, but I think there's nothing a priori about it.
Sure, you could work out software problems on a chalkboard, but I would say doing so is different than creating a piece of software that does the same thing... in the same way that a story that is told verbally from one person to another (and not stored say, via video) is different than a book.