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Linux and Business


Craig Mundie's speech. Is anyone really suprised that Microsoft execs attack open source software? It has happened before and it will happen again (and again and again). They don't 'get it' and people that invested in the cathedral model will not easily understand the bazaar (to borrow a metaphor). The more Microsoft attacks open source the more obvious it becomes just how threatened they are by it. The latest incident happened on Thursday May 3, when Microsoft Senior Vice President Craig Mundie gave a speech entitled "The Commercial Software Model" at the New York University Stern School of Business. The speech talks about Microsoft's "shared source" model, which, of course, avoids all of the problems of free software. Of the open source model he says:

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.

Given the timing of the speech, on LWN publication day, we've had a week to gather the many replies. Others have already said everything that needs to be said, and then some, so without further ado here are some of the replies.

  • Richard Stallman and Eben Moglen issued this press release, "The GNU General Public License Protects Software Freedoms".

    Moglen noted that Microsoft's confusion about the GPL's origins is not surprising. He said that 'taking advice on what the GPL means from Microsoft is like taking Stalin's word on the meaning of the US Constitution. They don't understand and they're not trying to understand: they're simply trying to scare people out of dealing with a competitor they can't buy, can't intimidate, and can't stop.

  • Alan Cox wrote "This is How Free Software Works".

    The power of the network was not unlocked by IPR [Intellectual Property Rights]. It was unlocked by free and open innovation shared amongst all. The Internet is not the product of a corporation. The World Wide Web is not the product of a corporation. These great enabling technologies were created by co-operative innovation.

  • SiliconValley.com interviewed Linus Torvalds to get his reactions.

    When Mundie wants you to think about all the work that companies have done in order to get patents, he also wants you to forget about all the work done by people like Einstein, Rutherford, Bohr, Leonardo da Vinci and a lot of other people who have done a lot more for humanity than most companies have ever done.

  • Tim O'Reilly:

    But Mundie's contention that open source encourages code forking is a red herring. Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, and Me provide a more compelling example of 'unhealthy forking of a code base' than any open source project.

  • NTK:

    Should anyone believe his observations about the future of Open Source? As Mundie himself once said 'We persist. We're driven by some innate belief about how these things are going to unfold.' Even, it seems, when they unfold in completely the opposite direction.

  • Salon's Andrew Leonard has taken a worthwhile look at what Microsoft is really after.

    The GPL is a big problem for .NET, because an Internet infrastructure constructed out of GPL-protected software is one that can be freely extended and made more valuable without having to pay any particular company for the privilege. Microsoft doesn't want to live in that world.

  • Evan Leibovitch.

    In explaining the philosophy, Mundie tried to show that Redmond understands the benefits of building a community around access to source code, while putting such strict limits on the code that the access is of extremely limited value.

  • The Embedded Linux Consortium:

    Dr. Inder Singh, ELC Chairman and CEO of LynuxWorks, said, 'Microsoft's broadside against open source shows they feel threatened by the rapid momentum of Linux in markets that Microsoft desperately needs to dominate as PC sales slow down. These include the server market and emerging, volume-rich embedded markets like set-top boxes, Internet appliances, Personal Digital Assistants, home gateways, factory automation and the automobile.'

  • LynuxWorks:

    Microsoft's scattered and uninformed comments against Open Source and GPL shows how threatened the company feels by the growing momentum of Linux in markets that they desperately want to dominate after the desktop PC.

There are more, but that's more than enough already.

Playstation Linux update. On May 9 we received an update from Japan on Linux for the Playstation 2. It seems that Sony doubled the number of units it planned to sell (to 2000), and sold the entire stock in all of eight minutes.

An additional announcement of additional shipments came out the next day, though there was no mention in regard to quantity and date.

One would hope that they would conclude that there is interest in Linux on their hardware...

Linux NetworX / EBIZ merger canceled. Another merger goes down: Linux NetworX has announced that it will not be merging with EBIZ after all. The two appear to be parting on relatively good terms, and will retain some joint manufacturing and reseller agreements.

MontaVista's Hard Hat Linux in China. MontaVista Software has announced that it will be distributing and supporting Hard Hat Linux in China, in partnership with PocketIX Software.

This week's News from the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). In this week's LPI-News, the LPI has announced a new Linux jobs board, a report from Comdex Chicago, and large sales of bulk exams to IBM and NEC. A progress report on the Level 2 exams is also given. "There are now 430 LPIC-1 graduates worldwide, as of March 31st 2001. Congratulations on this achievement - to you all".

IBM's community S/390 system. Have you been wishing you could play with Linux on an S/390 mainframe, but couldn't find room in your basement for the hardware? IBM's willing to help out. The Linux Community Development System makes virtual machines running Linux on a ten-processor S/390 available to people who want to port and test Linux applications. You even get a choice of SuSE or Turbolinux on your virtual system...

Linux Stock Index for May 03 to May 09, 2001.

LSI at closing on May 03, 2001 ... 32.30
LSI at closing on May 09, 2001 ... 33.02

The high for the week was 33.82
The low for the week was 32.30

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Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol.


May 10, 2001

 

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