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    Home Development
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    Microsoft Takes Shared-Source Step

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    October 24, 2005
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      Microsoft Corp. is edging closer to using certified open-source licenses to govern the projects it releases under its Shared Source Initiative.

      The Redmond, Wash., software company last week cut back the number of licenses it will use for Shared Source projects going forward, from more than 10 to just three new template, or core, licenses and two derivative “limited” variations of those licenses, which can be used only on the Windows platform.

      While the derivative licenses are modeled on existing open-source licenses—the Microsoft Permissive License follows the BSD license, and the Microsoft Community License is patterned after the Mozilla Public License—Microsoft officials are not ready to submit their three licenses to the Open Source Initiative for approval just yet. However, they have started talking to the OSI in this regard.

      Jason Matusow, director of Microsofts Shared Source program, said in an interview from Amsterdam, Netherlands, that before Microsoft considers submitting its licenses for OSI approval, a dialogue has to be established and trust built.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifClick here to read more about Microsofts changes to its Shared Source Initiative licensing.

      “In their choice of advocacy, the OSI has at times taken positions that have made it more difficult for us to work with them,” Matusow said. “I think people should be able to say critical things about Microsoft, but that should be completely separate from being a neutral body for any and all the players in the industry to be able to make use of your standard.”

      OSI board member Danese Cooper, in Santa Clara, Calif., said the organization believes the Open Source Definition could and should be applied equally to any license with a bearing on source code.

      Cooper also confirmed that a quorum of the OSI board met with Microsoft after its license announcement last week. “[We] discussed our commitment to equal application of the license approval process and gave them very preliminary feedback on the licenses as they appear on the MSDN Web site,” she said. “So far, Microsofts licenses have not yet been submitted for public discussion, but OSI is hopeful that they will be.”

      Tim OReilly, an open-source activist, urged Microsoft to submit the licenses for OSI approval. “They are clearly getting closer and closer to a tipping point,” said OReilly in Sebastopol, Calif.

      Regarding compatibility with the GNU GPL (General Public License), under which the Linux kernel is licensed, Matusow said the companys reciprocal licenses are not compatible with other reciprocal licenses, such as the GPL.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis in programming environments and developer tools.

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.

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