Recently I've wondered about support for GIF in GD now that the Unisys patent has expired. When a friend asked the same question and I didn't have an answer, it was time for some digging. A minute with Google yielded this statement from GD's author:

"Yes, Unisys still holds a patent on the LZW compression algorithm in some countries. The best solution is to move to legally unencumbered, well-compressed, modern image formats such as PNG and JPEG as soon as possible." (source)

So, for the time being, GIF is still evil.

Updated to add that European patents expire at 20 years, while U.S. patents expire at 17. Blah.

In reply to FYI: GIF (non) support in GD by dws

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