Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 00:04:07 +0300 From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm@toybox.placo.com> Cc: "Kenneth P. Stox" <stox@imagescape.com>, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Microsoft and FreeBSD, as reported in the Wall Street Journal Message-ID: <20010619000407.A3601@hades.hell.gr> In-Reply-To: <000001c0f812$d97e3280$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>; from tedm@toybox.placo.com on Mon, Jun 18, 2001 at 09:22:20AM -0700 References: <XFMail.010618074223.stox@imagescape.com> <000001c0f812$d97e3280$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>
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On Mon, Jun 18, 2001 at 09:22:20AM -0700, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: > Yes, this is exactly the position that I recently argued here. > > However, the article does have one major flaw. In it, it says: > > "Microsoft, though, hasn't previously suggested that there were > benign forms of open-source software, and while singling out Linux > for special criticism, has tended to criticize all open-source with > the same broad brush." > This is untrue. Craig Mundie's comments were very explicit in that > Microsoft does support non-GPLd open source projects. Granted, none > of the major news organizations picked up on this, but if you go to > the complete text of his speech and READ it, here at: > > http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/craig/05-03sharedsource.asp Oh, but he does refer to 'Open Source Software': The commercial software model is just one model being utilized in the software industry today. It is important to take into account the Open Source Software movement as an example of an alternative model. Some of his comments are targeted towards Open Source in general: The OSS development model leads to a strong possibility of unhealthy "forking" of a code base, resulting in the development of multiple incompatible versions of programs, weakened interoperability, product instability, and hindering businesses ability to strategically plan for the future. Furthermore, it has inherent security risks and can force intellectual property into the public domain. Yet, he does change the tone and comments that he makes to target GPL, and ony GPL, after a while: Some of the most successful OSS technology is licensed under the GNU General Public License or GPL. The GPL ... The fact that he *does* begin his article speaking about Open Source in general though, is important. No, he does not explicitly mention BSD. Nowhere in his article, the word BSD can be found. However, bashing Open Source in general (even if after a while, it turns out to a GPL bashing contest), does harm to all Open Source projects, in my humble opinion. Therefore, that other article, at < http://public.wsj.com/news/hmc/sb992819157437237260.htm > is not very wrong when it says that "Microsoft ... has tended to criticize all open-source with the same broad brush". -giorgos To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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