O’Reilly Network: Tim O’Reilly: A Response to Jim Allchin’s Comments

“Like many others, I was surprised, disturbed, and disappointed
by Jim Allchin’s comments about open source software
development….”

“I was surprised, because in my recent dealings with people
inside Microsoft, I’ve seen signs that the principles of
collaborative, open source development are gaining a lot of headway
there. The principles outlined in Eric Raymond’s The Cathedral and
The Bazaar are seen to have a lot of validity, and Microsoft is
taking steps to apply them both inside the company and by opening
up to certain kinds of joint development with customers.”

“I was disturbed, because Allchin suggested that open source is
somehow “un-American.” He can hardly be unaware of the historical
resonances of such a statement, that it harks back to the Cold War
images of free market democracies versus communism. To have the
discussion about alternate business models descend to such a level
demonstrates either that Allchin was quoted out of context (since I
hear he’s a thoughtful, intelligent guy), or that Microsoft has
truly grown desperate in its fear of the competitive threat from
Linux. Open source comes close to the heart of the American way:
innovation (both in software and in business models), and a free
market of ideas. Open source and proprietary software models are
duking it out in the marketplace in the grand American
tradition.”

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