TechNewsWorld: Can Open-Source Software Survive an Audit?

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Feb 19, 2004

[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood
for this link. ]

“In case you live on the moon, what happened last week was that
a small amount of Microsoft source code was leaked to the Web.
Granted, small is relative. The leaked code consisted of more lines
than I’ve ever written in my life, but early measurements had it at
about 15 percent of Windows 2000.

“Evidently, the leak was done by a vendor that uses the code to
facilitate running applications written for Windows on Linux and
Unix. Microsoft eventually confirmed the leak, but that hasn’t
stopped the barrage of commentary from security experts,
journalists, analysts and, amazingly enough, the open-source
community, which waxed eloquent on why the exposure of Microsoft
code to the Web was a disaster for the company.

“Now, don’t get me wrong. Like the President of the United
States, Microsoft has a huge credibility problem, which means that
every time almost anything happens to the company, folks come out
of the woodwork to espouse nefarious motives and catastrophic
outcomes. They are almost never right, but it does make for
interesting reading…”

Complete
Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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