Redmondmag: Cracking Open the Door to Open Source

“When Bill Hilf came from IBM Corp. to join Microsoft three
years ago, the company’s stance on open source vacillated wildly.
It would swing from outright indifference to overt nastiness.
Today, something else is unfolding: Microsoft is striking a
surprising balance. It has stopped dismissing open source licensing
and community development as dangerous folly or evil foe, and is
looking for a way to both compete and co-exist.

“Let’s start with Hilf. Under his direction as general manager
of platform strategy, Microsoft is crafting a multifaceted plan to
approach open source from a number of different levels: Linux as an
operating system competitor; interoperability with Linux in mixed
environments; partnering with open source ISVs; development of
Shared Source Licensing; contributions to and support for community
development sites…”

Complete
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