Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer said yesterday (7 April 1999) that
Microsoft might consider offering some of its Windows code as open
source if the Linux operating system continues to increase in
popularity. We in the open-source community welcome this
development. We are confident that Linux will continue to attract
users who value reliability and flexibility, and Mr. Ballmer’s
undertaking may point the way to a future in which the powerful
quality and reliability benefits of open source are enjoyed by
users of *both* of the two most widely used operating systems in
the world.
We’d like to remind Microsoft that (as Jamie Zawinski put it
recently in his Mozilla resignation announcement) open source is
not magic pixie dust. Code that’s badly designed or non-functional
won’t instantly improve simply by being open-sourced. Before the
peer-review effect can benefit consumers, lots of developers must
be both able and motivated to participate. We must therefore
caution Mr. Ballmer and Microsoft that empty demonstrations and
half-measures won’t do.
A partial release of components that won’t build into
functioning, usable software won’t attract developers. A release of
“Windows” that leaves the kernel, the Windows API or critical
pieces such as Active Directory, SMB, OLE/DCOM, or the Exchange
wire protocol still closed will readily be diagnosed by both
developers and the Justice department as a sham. So would a license
that exposes source but denies outside developers full rights to
modify, re-use and re-distribute without legal hindrance.
These are all traps to be avoided. But if Microsoft is sincere
in wishing to join the open-source community, and does the right
things in the right spirit, we will welcome it. Truly open-sourced
Windows code would be a boon to consumers and developers
everywhere.
Signed,
Eric S. Raymond, President, Open Source Initiative
Dr. Larry M. Augustin, President and CEO, VA Research Linux
Systems
Russell Nelson, President of Crynwr Software, OSI Board member
L. Peter Deutsch, OSI Board member
Larry Wall, inventor of Perl
Guido Van Rossum, inventor of Python
—
Donna Sokolsky
Spark Public Relations
801 W. El Camino Real
Suite 333
Mountain View, CA 94040
PH: 650-254-0800
FX: 650-568-0394
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donna@sparkpr.com