Microsoft Cuddles up to Open Source
Once considered by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer as a plague on all software and the work of the devil, open source software is now accepted with open arms by Microsoft, even evoking their active support.
One major factor in Microsoft's sidling up to open source is the PHP script language, according to Andreas Urban, their manager of open source strategy in Germany. PHP is becoming increasingly more prevalent in Microsoft products. So the Redmond giant put Pierre Joye as head of PHP development in an interface role with the community.
Evidence seems to show that Redmond is putting all its effort into being as transparent as possible with its in-house products. It currently provides more than 50,000 white papers free of charge describing the interfaces to some of their products, notably the Exchange Server and MS SQL. Licensing is required only for patent-protected interfaces in commercial products.

Opening up their interfaces wasn't so much inspired by a commitment to interoperability in the software universe, as Microsoft likes to claim, than to fulfill the obligations of a European Union lawsuit. Microsoft was to fork over 1.6 billion dollars in an antitrust settlement, but ended up paying $899 million.
Another model of transparency that Microsoft likes to present is OOXML, the open documentation standard, according to Sandra Schaefer, manager of interoperability strategy at Microsoft. When asked why a certain specification ran over 6,500 pages with some facts still missing, she remained contrite. The reason for Microsoft's working its own standard, she claims, is that not all functions of the Office suite can be displayed using the ODF format. That's only half the truth, say the European Union and other government agencies who have held Microsoft responsible for license infractions that could have cost them some market share in favor of OpenOffice. Nonetheless, Schaefer reiterated that MS Office 2007 SP2 will include a native implementation of ODF 1.1 that should allow users to open and save documents in that format.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora 39 Beta is Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.
-
Star Labs Reveals a New Surface-Like Linux Tablet
If you've ever wanted a tablet that rivals the MS Surface, you're in luck as Star Labs has created such a device.
-
SUSE Going Private (Again)
The company behind SUSE Linux Enterprise, Rancher, and NeuVector recently announced that Marcel LUX III SARL (Marcel), its majority shareholder, intends to delist it from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by way of a merger.
MS Perfidy
If anyone trusts Microsoft, I have some nice beach property in New Mexico for them.
Wolf in sheep's clothing
1) All Microsoft has to do is to use their old tactic and mess up the Open Source stuff they pretend to be "helping". They do have the manpower and money to create so much crap, and so much distraction, that what works today will not work tomorrow. There is a saying that goes: "if you can't convince them, baffle them with bullshit". Well, it's something like that.
2) The best way for the world to get rid of M$ is to make them irrelevant, by embracing open standards and open source, and not going for the "needs" their marketing machine creates. Open source already provides *everything* M$ provides and, therefore, already makes them technically irrelevant. It's time for the commercial step, now.
Be free!
ODF and OOXML
ODF and OOXML