“What is it with Microsoft and open source? It’s not so
complicated. Microsoft hates the competition from open source.
Microsoft loves the benefits of open source. Microsoft wants the
customers who like open source. Microsoft doesn’t want to let any
of its intellectual property turn into open source….”
“So what is Microsoft doing now? Letting lots of people eyeball
its source code to find bugs – just like open-source developers do
– and promising .Net support for Linux, the open-source standard
bearer.”
“Is it a scam? A trick? Is Microsoft trying to pollute the
purity of the open-source movement? Oh, maybe. What’s more likely
is that Microsoft, having spent its requisite time hissing and
spitting at something new, is now proceeding to do “open source”
the Microsoft way.”
“That means rubbing up against open source just enough to get
some benefits but never losing any control of Microsoft’s
intellectual property. For example, the large customers in
Microsoft’s “open-source” program will be able to look at some
Windows source code, but they’re prohibited from making any
changes. They can report bugs and figure out work-arounds, but
that’s it.”