SearchWebServices: MS Exec Makes Case for Open-Source Effort

“Selling developers on the idea that Microsoft is committed to
working with the open-source community was a tall task, an
executive with the software maker admitted in an interview with
SearchWebServices.com. At the recent O’Reilly Open Source
conference (OSCON), Jason Matusow, manager of Microsoft’s Shared
Source Initiative, talked about how the program works and how it
can benefit developers…

“What other programs are included in the Shared Source
Initiative, and how does it compare to open-source?

“Matusow: Available programs include Windows
technology, the CE operating system, ASP.NET, parts of the .NET
framework, Visual Studio components, Passport and other pieces of
code as well. I think there are over 40 different open-source
licenses today, so there’s a large spectrum of how people deal with
open-source. Shared source is a spectrum as well, ranging from
reference-only agreements, where you can see the code but not
modify it, all the way through [to] seeing the code and modifying
it and reselling your work…”

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