“Microsoft made major concessions Thursday that should make it
easier for open-source software to dovetail with or even replace
Microsoft products, but a major caveat means the company’s legal
threats remain alive and well.“Microsoft announced a number of moves that could significantly
improve its relationship with the open-source world. Among other
things, the company said it will share communication protocols that
govern how Microsoft software products communicate; pledged not to
sue open-source programmers for developing software that uses those
interfaces; and launched an Open Source Interoperability Initiative
to improve how well open-source software works with its own…”