Does Microsoft really want to be open source's friend?

. . . keeping an eye on the penguin

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Feb. 22, 2008

Blog -- Is Microsoft offering an olive branch to open source and Linux? Or is Microsoft just putting the best possible face on its defeat by the EU justice system, and its recent statements are really just business as usual? If you ask people in the open-source community you'll find answers from one end of the spectrum to the other.

In a statement by Michael Cunningham, Red Hat executive vice president and general counsel, Red Hat stakes out its position: "Eight years ago the U.S. regulatory authorities, and four years ago the European regulators, made clear to Microsoft that its refusal to disclose interface information for its monopoly software products violates the law. So, it is hardly surprising to see even Microsoft state today that 'interoperability across systems is an important requirement' and announce a 'change in [its] approach to interoperability.' Of course, we've heard similar announcements before, almost always strategically timed for other effect. Red Hat regards this most recent announcement with a healthy dose of skepticism. Three commitments by Microsoft would show that it really means what it is announcing today."

The reaction to these proposed commitments can be boiled down to "Prove it."

On the other hand, Peter Galli at eWEEK reports that Novell Chief Marketing Officer John Dragoon wrote of Microsoft's move, "Could it be bolder and broader? Of course. If the market demands it to be so, it will likely happen. In the meantime, I'm proud that Novell took a bold first step in accelerating the conversation around openness and interoperability with our Microsoft partnership over 15 months ago."

Even the Linux Foundation found some good things to say about Microsoft's new (or is it?) stance. Jim Zemlin, the Linux Foundation's executive director, told Galli that while Microsoft's position isn't ideal for open-source developers, it is "a first step. The world of software development has been marching in a steady direction toward being open and transparent. As Linux use continues to rise, so does the demand [by] customers to enable it to interoperate with Microsoft products. This announcement by Microsoft seems to indicate they want to participate in that march."

Speaking for myself, I don't buy any of it. Over at eWEEK, I said Microsoft was spinning legal defeat into fool's gold.

Since then, I've looked more closely at the details of Microsoft's "new" position and it looks even more to me like a new coat of paint on the same old Microsoft "We're so interoperable" BS. I especially like the fact that open-source developers can use Microsoft's intellectual property just so long as the code that results isn't used in any money-making operations. That includes, by the way, using it inside your own company and never actually selling, renting or providing service for your program to anyone else.

In other words, Microsoft is opening up its secrets for you to look at, but, woe to you if you try to use any of them in anything that might actually make money. Microsoft isn't offering open source a new opportunity, it's offering open source a trap.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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