Samba Project Considering Purchasing License for Windows Protocols

Oct 23, 2007

Now that Microsoft has stated that it is prepared to give competitors access to technical documentation in a case heard by the EU Commission, the Samba project is considering purchasing a license.

The Samba project can afford the asking price, which is estimated at around 10,000 euros, says Samba developer Volker Lendecke. "But we need to investigate the legal implications of this step", said Lendecke at the fringe of the Perspektive Open Source Conference.

The project is in close contact with FSF legal expert Eben Moglen who will be investigating the terms of the license. "The step would be a major boost to Samba as regards implementing an Active Directory server", says Lendecke referring to the advantages of the license. If the project detected a deviation between the specification and the implementation, Microsoft would be required to modify its products or specifications. In both cases the developers at the Open Source project expect improved conformity and interoperability with Windows clients and servers.

Related content

  • Microsoft Changes Licensing Conditions Following EU Verdict

    In the light of a ruling by the European Commission, Microsoft has now published revised license terms for interoperability.

    more »
  • Samba Team Receives Microsoft Protocol Docs

    Today the Protocol Freedom Information Foundation (PFIF), a non-profit organization created by the Software Freedom Law Center, signed an agreement with Microsoft to receive the protocol documentation needed to fully interoperate with the Microsoft Windows workgroup server products and to make them available to Free Software projects such as Samba.

    more »
  • Samba specialist SerNet claims specifications from MS

    SerNet claimed the protocol specifications from Microsoft in order to enhance the open source software and make it interoperable.

    more »
  • Samba 4

    Samba 4 has been around for more than three years, but some users still shy from it. If you are still sitting on the fence, this tour through some of the new features and capabilities might help you decide whether it is finally time to upgrade.

    more »
  • Samba 3.2 With IPv6, Clustering and GPLv3

    The free Samba project has just released version 3.2 of the file and printer server for Microsoft Windows clients. The team will be moving to the GPL v3 license as of this version.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Issue 43_SI: LibreOffice Expert/Special Editions

Buy this issue as a PDF

Digital Issue: Price $15.99
(incl. VAT)

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source