Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 18:14:07 -0700 From: Donna Sokolsky <donna@sparkpr.com> Subject: Response to Microsoft from Open Source Community The following is an open letter to Microsoft from the Open Source Community that will run the wire at 9 am EST. Response to Microsoft from the Open Source Community 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 CELL: 650-888-1850 donna@sparkpr.com