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An interesting article by open source citizen, William Hurley on 7 reasons why Microsoft loves open source. I encourage readers to peruse the article. The short-list, which shows that not all open source fans have joined the proletariat revolution: (They" = Microsoft)
1. They include open source code in their products.
2. They support open source vendors.
3. They benefit from open source everyday.
4. They open source code.
5. They are adopting open source culture.
6. They aren’t threatened by open source.
7. They realize open source is their future. Hmmm. I have no problem with open source, only with free software. I'll still nitpick though because its fun...
Number 5 is a prime example of how the FOSS movement has so generalized the concepts of free and open source, that it has no meaning. According to their reasoning, anybody and Stalin, Mao and the Dear Leader (Stallman) is an "open sourcer."
I give Mr. Hurley credit for Number 6. The FOSS movement may want Microsoft to be threatened by FOSS, but in reality, Microsoft does does not care about ideological battles. Microsoft cares about competition in business markets, where you meet fiscal year goals rather than bow to code that aligns with the "four freedoms."
Microsoft's recent pact with Novell shows that it is not threatened by FOSS; it competes with Linux, and in some circumstances, sees business opportunities in collaborating with FOSS firms. See Mr. Hurley's number 2- yes, Microsoft works with FOSS vendors when there is business justification.
Regarding Mr. Hurley's 7th point, he is certaintly not right. Open source fans are like their free software counterparts in some ways- they want any minimal contribution of open source code to overshadow everything else- like how the GPL license is meant to disregard all standards of apportionment in the code it infects.
If Microsoft ever adopts open source in its future, which is what Hurley may or may not have meant, open source groups will need to disconnect themselves from their free software cousins, and speak in a language that somebody like Steve Ballmer would care about. If the open source folks can make Microsoft their friend or partner, that will signify legitimacy in the eyes of many.
Yes, open source has its value, but the sooner open source groups leave the baggage behind (free software and free software like thinking), the sooner they can appreciate business markets they've been missing out on.
posted by Noel Le @ 6:42 AM | Free Culture Movement
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