Microsoft has been granted a patent for the sudo command, because apparently you can patent a command that goes back to the mainframe days as long as you explain that it’s a “personalised version” with a GUI.

Groklaw has an explanation of the history of sudo and details about the patent, but it all boils down to this: Someone at the US Patent Office must’ve been snoozing when they approved this patent application. Either that or the command worked on a person. [USPTO via Groklaw]