Microsoft open to open source

Sure.

Subject: [bytesforall_readers] Microsoft open to open source
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 20:12:03 +0000
From: Sunil Abraham <sunil@mahiti.org>
To: fossap <fossap@iosn.net>, Bytesforall Readers <bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com>

Dear Friends,
More endorsement of FOSS from an unlikely source :-)
Thanks,
Sunil

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/179256_msftopen25.html
Microsoft open to open source
Company says it wants to release more programs to software developers

By TODD BISHOP
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Microsoft Corp. says it is looking to turn over more of its programs to
open-source software developers, playing a greater role in a process
that the Redmond company has criticized strongly at times in the past.

Money-makers like the company's Windows operating system and Office
productivity suite aren't on the table -- or anywhere near it.

But the company has so far released two software-development tools to
the open-source community, and it wants to continue the practice, a
Microsoft platform manager told an industry group this week.

"There's more of that on the way," said Microsoft's Stephen Walli, who
oversaw the process of releasing those tools under open-source licenses.
"And it's not just about developer tools. There's other things that we
can be looking at when you actually look at the breadth of source code
that we have, the breadth of software that we have that isn't actually
core (to Microsoft's) revenue stream."

Walli's comments during a panel discussion by the WSA technology trade
association Tuesday night underscored the dual nature of Microsoft's
approach to open-source software, in which large and small groups of
volunteers produce and improve upon computer programs, making the
results of their work and the underlying software code available for use
and modification by others.

Even as Microsoft begins to make small contributions of code to
open-source communities, it's trying hard to keep the open-source Linux
operating system from taking market share from Windows around the world.

In one high-profile case, the city of Munich, Germany, last week said it
would switch from Windows to Linux for its 14,000 personal computers.

During the WSA event, an audience member asked Walli about the impact of
the Munich contract loss.

"Is that a threat to our business? Well, as much as we didn't get that
sale or make that customer happy, yes," he answered. "Is it a threat to
our overall business? No. There's lots of customers out there and I
would hope that we're making all of them happy so they keep coming
back."

IBM Corp., which sells a variety of Linux-based products, is among the
companies expected to compete for the Munich contract.
Dan Frye, director of IBM's Linux Technology Center, also was on the WSA
panel at Seattle's Westin Hotel.

"Open source has proven to be one effective way for delivering
innovation and value," Frye told the group. "It's not the only way, it's
not the exclusive way. ... We consider it at IBM one of our choices."

Microsoft's two existing open-source projects have used a type of
open-source license from IBM called the CPL, or common public license,
which some companies tend to favor because it clearly delineates some
critical ground rules for an open-source technology's use. Analysts say
that choice of license shows that Microsoft takes issue not as much with
the broader open-source concept as with the GPL, a different type of
open-source license used for Linux and other programs.

Some analysts said they aren't surprised to see Microsoft signal plans
for greater involvement with open-source communities.

"If they find that it has some business value to them, I would expect
them to continue doing it," said IDC analyst Al Gillen.

However, he said, the company is highly unlikely to ever turn any of its
core programs like Windows into open-source projects.

The WSA panel spent more than an hour debating such issues as the
benefits of the open-source development process, what types of software
are right for open-source development, and the actual value to a company
when it's able to see or modify the source code that's behind the
software it buys.

The end of the event brought a sign that Microsoft, despite beginning to
participate in open-source communities, hasn't entirely put its past
ways behind it.

Meryll Larkin, systems administrator for Mountlake Terrace-based Alaska
Maritime Agencies, told Microsoft's Walli about an erroneous message
displayed by Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program when working in
conjunction with Alaska Maritime's Linux-based computer servers. Outlook
states incorrectly that the server has closed a connection.

Larkin said the error message has existed for several years, persisting
even in the newest Outlook version, even though the problem has been
well-documented. Such situations tend to give credence to longstanding
assertions that Microsoft makes its software unfriendly to programs from
competing vendors.

"I would like to believe those days are over," Larkin said afterward.
"Microsoft is at least giving lip service to cooperation, and at this
point I think they should turn more of it into reality. I think they
can. I hope they will."

Thanks,

ಸುನೀಲ್
--
Sunil Abraham, sunil@mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org
314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA
Ph/Fax: +91 80 51150580. Mobile: +91 80 36701931

Currently on sabbatical with APDIP/UNDP
As FOSS Consultant - International Open Source Network
Wisma UN, Block C Komplex Pejabat Damansara.
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P. O. Box 12544, 50782, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (60) 3-2091-5167, Fax: (60) 3-2095-2087
sunil@apdip.net http://www.iosn.net http://www.apdip.net

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