"The operating system roundtable discussion, which was called
"Why Can't We All Just Get Along," included Linux Foundation
executive director Jim Zemlin, Sun community and developer vice
president Ian Murdock, and Microsoft platform strategy director Sam
Ramji.
"Much of the discussion related to Microsoft and its rocky
relationship with open source software. Ramji, who runs Microsoft's
open source software lab and plays a role in influencing
Microsoft's open source strategy, faced some tough questions from
fellow panelists and the audience. He was not flustered by the
inquisition and responded with cogent thoughts and some witty
retorts.
"He said that Microsoft's commitment to delivering compatibility
with open source software is largely driven by user demand. Indeed,
a growing number of companies are deploying Apache, PHP, and other
open source software components on Windows-based servers. Microsoft
seems to have noticed this trend and has been working to build
closer ties with the Apache community. Microsoft joined the Apache
Foundation last year and has already contributed some of its code
to an Apache interoperability effort relating to service-oriented
applications. Microsoft also adopted Apache's permissive open
source license for its Web sandbox initiative instead of using one
of its own two OSI-approved shared source licenses."
