“Can’t we all just be open source? The success of open source as
the buzzword du jour was confirmed completely this week, when
Microsoft execs and Vice President Al Gore’s Web site each
suggested that – yes, now it can be told – they want to be open
source, too. Most outlets treated the incidents with open
skepticism.”
“Gore’s open source appeal came as the candidate took the wraps
off his Campaign 2000 site, which proclaimed it was “open source.”
ZDNet’s Joel Deane reported that the site was merely appealing to
programmers to look at its source code and suggest ways to improve
it. But the merciless nerds at geek-chic site Slashdot.org were
unimpressed and a bit offended that the veep was co-opting a term
for a software development methodology when what he meant was more
along the lines of “keep those cards and letters coming.” (Hey, at
least Gore’s site didn’t say “optimized for IE 5.”)”
…
“TechWeb’s Malcolm Maclachlan pointed out that after years of
taunting Microsoft for hiding its proprietary code, open source
advocates wasted not a moment before turning on its offer to reveal
the code.”