“Despite reports suggesting that Microsoft may be considering
releasing the source code for Windows 2000, a Microsoft executive
responsible for the new operating system said he would be
“surprised” if the company diverted from its strategy of retaining
sole authorship of its software.”
“Muth said comments Microsoft President Steve Ballmer and other
company executives made at a gathering of hardware executives in
Los Angeles earlier this week were interpreted without having a
clear understanding of how Microsoft defines “open source”…
“Muth said the term “open source” has a variety of meanings, and
the company’s definition differs from the one used to describe Unix
and the increasingly popular Linux…”
“… its definition of “open source code licenses” means making
the technology available to only a select group of computer
scientists, researchers and original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
and engineering partners, who are offered the code under a set of
restrictions…”