Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: [OT]Re: One more ZDNet article with BillG hammering Linux and Open Source. | From | Miles Lane <> | Date | 22 Jun 2001 23:27:55 -0700 |
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On 22 Jun 2001 20:45:14 -0700, Gerhard Mack wrote: > On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Ben Ford wrote: > > > Miles Lane wrote: > > > > >http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2777283,00.html > > > > > [ . . . ] > > > > Hey, Bill, here's my address, can you ship me the full source to Word? > > Funny but by giving it to you they could really screw you when it comes to > opensource work. If you think the GPL is viral you havn't seen "shared > source".. at least the GPL only applies to derived works.
Here's the kicker. I went to Microsoft's site and tried to find a copy of their Shared Software License or some approximation thereof. All I found was a bunch of Craig Mundie's blathering and some critiques of the GPL:
http://www.microsoft.com/business/licensing/sharedsource.asp
How can we evaluate if there is any point in asking BillG for the Word source code if they won't even show us the blighted license? What I suspect is that there IS no "Shared Source License." And, even if there were, Microsoft doesn't want anyone to see it because that would allow a direct comparison with the GPL, LGPL and so on. Heaven forbid that apples should be compared to apples!
What they appear to have is a hodgepodge of different ways of "sharing" source code. Here's an excerpt from:
http://www.microsoft.com/BUSINESS/licensing/sscommitment.asp -------------------------------------------------- Some examples of Shared Source already being implemented at Microsoft:
Research source licensing. For nearly a decade, Microsoft Research has licensed Microsoft Windows source code to more than 100 academic institutions in 23 countries. For more information, see Microsoft Research University Programs.
Enterprise licensing program. Source code for Windows 2000 and subsequent releases of Windows is available for licensing at no charge to more than 1,000 enterprise customers in the United States. We also have a pilot program expanding the ESLP to 12 additional countries.
ISV source licensing. We are developing a program for licensing Windows source code to top tier ISVs (independent software vendors) for development and support purposes.
OEM source licensing. Windows source code has been licensed for years to leading OEMs to assist in the development and support of their consumer and server products.
Windows CE source code access. We are licensing Windows CE source code through Platform Builder 3.0 (generally available to all developers). Microsoft will be broadening and adding to the community support mechanisms through the Platform Builder Program. In the second half of this year we will offer academic site licenses for Windows CE source code.
Expanded level of Windows CE source access. Additionally, we have announced an expanded level of Windows CE source access to, (i) our leading silicon vendor partners via the Windows Embedded Strategic Silicon Alliance program, and (ii) our leading system integrator partners via the Innovation Alliance Program.
Sample code. Over the years Microsoft has made millions of lines of source code freely available to developers through resources such as SDKs, DDKs, and MSDN. Check out the MSDN Online Code Center.
.NET Framework submitted to ECMA standards body. We have announced that the specifications for the .NET Framework have been submitted to the ECMA standards body, enabling others to implement and evolve this technology in a platform-independent manner so that it is can be rapidly and widely adopted on an industry-side basis. For more information, see ECMA Standardization.
These Shared Source programs will be joined in the coming months by programs covering additional products and technologies. The realization of our .NET vision will rely heavily on the Shared Source philosophy. We also plan to introduce a Shared Source license crafted to the needs of our customers and partners in governments around the world. This government source license will be similar in nature to the license we offer our large enterprise customers today. Still in the works are new source sharing ideas for our ISV partners as well. ----------------------------------
My interpretation of this excerpt is that Microsoft figures out what rights it wants to allow each of these categories of developers/users and then incredibly restricts the freedom of anyone who sees their code to change, port or use the code in any way at all. My impression is that they are happy to have grad students look at the NT code, because they want really smart people to get used to using NT all the time and then graduate and go become Microsoft borgs.
What I imagine happens is that if you ask for source code, they decide whether they want to show it to you, then they make you sign away your life (such as freedom to work on any code vaguely like the code they're going to show you) and then they sue you into bankruptcy or out-of-court settlement if you breathe in a way they don't like.
I'd be happy if Bill and his merry band proved me wrong, but I really doubt that'll happen.
Miles
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