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● 06.16.08

●● Microsoft ‘Buys’ Parts of the Open Source Movement – Part Deux (Updated)

Posted in Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Ubuntu at 8:10 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Towards Redefining Free Open Source Software in the Darnest of Ways

Here we go again. SourceForge is one recent example of Microsoft's strategy that involves capturing "open source", which it maliciously compared to communism in the past, and thus becoming one of its leaders. There are many other examples like unsuccessful attempts around the OSA and even OLPC. It becomes quite an abomination when Microsoft then redefines open source.

=> one recent example of Microsoft's | capturing "open source" | unsuccessful attempts around the OSA | even OLPC | Microsoft then redefines open source

The latest news is about yet another Microsoft sponsorship of a project that so far seems to revolve around champions like Firefox, Ubuntu and other direct competitors of Microsoft.

=> ↺ Microsoft sponsorship

Microsoft has become a sponsor of The Open Source Census, a project started earlier this year that aims to track and catalog the use of open-source software in enterprises worldwide, the group announced Monday.

[...]

It is important to balance open-mindedness with skepticism when thinking about Microsoft’s open-source strategy, according to one observer.

Here is what Glyn Moody had to say about this.

=> ↺ Glyn Moody had to say about this

Call it the “loving to death” strategy: Microsoft entwines its tentacles around more and more of the open source world until it becomes almost – almost – an indispensable part of it. Result: the person on the Clapham omnibus is confused about what is and what isn’t open source….

What Moody calls “loving to death”, Linux Today’s Managing Editor recently called “killing with kindness”.

=> ↺ “killing with kindness”

To exemplify this further, a trollish article that we alluded to the other day is now being dissected by MTG, who shows us how “open source” gets exploited and misused not just by Microsoft.

=> ↺ shows us how “open source” gets exploited and misused

So apparently the Boy Scouts of America are all Gun Ho about open source. Computer World explains us that they have launch their BSA Open Source Initiative.

[...]

Since a recent experience with Microsoft got me worried about people using terms out of context, I thought I’d browse through the open source BSA site to find out more. Especially worth reading (and source from most of the quotes) are the pages named classroom and history.

Redefinition/spinning is an issue we’ll be seeing more of in the future. Why is Bruce Perens not up there in OSI policing and defending the integrity of this ever-mutating sibling of Free software? █

=> up there in OSI

“There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don’t think that those incentives should exist.”

–Bill Gates, 2005

Update: Some more analysis of this sponsorship is starting to appear now, including some key observations from Mary Jo.

=> ↺ more analysis of this sponsorship | ↺ key observations from Mary Jo

And note the mention of license compliance here — a hot button for Microsoft, the company which has alleged that open-source software violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents. The Census discovery tool doesn’t search for open-source software on Linux boxes only; it also scans for open-source installed specifically on Windows machines.

Microsoft officials are emphasizing that Microsoft wants to know about open-source adoption levels and trends because the company is interested in helping its customers’ Windows systems better interoperate with open-source systems. I’m sure that Microsoft also wants a better understanding of where/how open-source software is gaining traction in enterprises in order to better fight it.

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