text: Microsoft "thinking about" Open Source 141
  Everyone, their mother, Uncle Henry and Aunt Maude wrote in about Microsoft considering using Open Source. While they've talked about it before, Steve Balmer, MS President, said in remarks that Microsoft is thinking about - Note:thinking about the Open Source model. But, hey, lotsa people think about lotsa things. I'm not holding my breath
  Hmm. (Score:1)
  No thanks. I already have several "open source solutions"...
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Also, I don't think ANYBODY said that they didn't want it (M$ source release) to happen -- just that it wouldn't be terribly useful. It could, however, be an apt punishment for Microsoft (should they be forced to release a reasonable amount of code) since they would have a hard time using underhanded tricks such as the one they used on Caldera if the source were available.
  They're *thinking* (Score:1)
  Re:MS: Please publish all your undocumented win ca (Score:1)
  It's true that Andrew Schulman discovered a number of undocumented Windows calls that Microsoft apps made back in the Win 3.1 days, but he also pointed out that most of these calls did not gain them anythings since there we equivelant documented calls. (of course, this begs the question of why they were used. Most likely because whoever wrote the code was familiar with the call).
  There have been a lot of people looking for these undocumented calls in todays apps, but so far nobody has found any that I can tell. It's pretty easy to track API calls and there are lots of tools out there to help you.
  So why does this rumor persist?
  Re:Missing the Point: Its about DEVELOPER MINDSHAR (Score:1)
  And I see you're all suited up in your Masters of the Universe pajamas and are ready to take on the Microsoft Monster. Just try to keep all the sand in the sandbox, kids. Dad's pretty mad about last time....
  Scary thought... (Score:1)
  And its just the type of thing I would expect from M$.
  M$ Open Source (Absolute CRAP!) (Score:1)
  -----------------------------------------------
  A call to the GNU Generation!
  -----------------------------------------------
  DON`T DO IT! M$ IS OWNED BY CAPITALISTS AND RUN BY THE VERY SAME. EVERYTHING THEY DO IS PROFIT ORIENTED, AND THIS WILL NOT CHANGE. THEY WILL ONLY DO SOMETHING IF IT BENEFITS FOR THEM!
  TRUST NOTHING THAT MICROSOFT HAS PROPOSED! THEY HAVE CHEATED YOU ENOUGH, DON`T LET THEM CONTINUE!
  Thank you for your Attention
  NETPace
  -- Live free or Die! LINUX! --
  EOF
  .
  MS vs. Open Source (Score:2)
  Microsoft has a long history of pushing its own proprietary solutions
  while ignoring or subverting cross-platform, open standards. Not-to-
  mention their documented efforts to eliminate any conceivable competition
  via methods that could be described, at best, as unsavory. Does anybody
  seriously believe that they're about to change their ways *this* late in
  the game?
  Maybe once the playing-field has been leveled (if indeed ever it is) or
  Microsoft establishes the same history of supporting truly open standards
  as it has so far only its proprietary, lock-in solutions, there will be
  some point to this kind of discussion. Until then, hints like this from
  Microsoft can be regarded seriously only as so much PR spin.
  "open source" == two bad words at Microsoft (Score:2)
  ."
  "[Open source] means different things to different people, but certainly the notion that there are parts of our source code that if published would help you be more effective in your job," Ballmer."
  RANT SUMMARY: Don't let the sleezy hype of MSFT get to you -- do you really want to lower yourself to their level?!
  Old trick, new twist? (Score:2)
  Typical Manager:
  The tech's will be satisfied, and there's no risk.
  Besides, NT has already been proven to be faster than Linux, and to scale better.
  Just because Balmer says they're interested, doesn't mean they are.
  So what's Microsoft Up to? (Score:2)
  In my (very) humble opinion, Microsoft is still trying to get their corporate mindset around the idea of open source. This piece seems to indicate to me that they don't understand why Open Source is successful, what motivates people to produce Open Source software, or why it's better than Microsoft products. I'm guessing that Microsoft's current view of the Open Source movement is a lot like the blind men's view of an elephant: they see a tree, a snake, and a rope (or at least Linux, Samba, and Apache) but don't understand how it fits together or why it hurts so much when it steps on them. Open Source is a concept that even fairly forward-thinking corporate managers have had a difficult time grasping. It's only been recently (and due in good part to the successes of the Open Source Foundation) that there has been some success.
  Microsoft, on the other hand, has always had difficulty understanding the idea of sharing programs. This attitude goes back a long way into their corporate history - does anyone other than me remember Bill Gates' open letter on software piracy, back in the Altair days? I'd say it's safe to say that Bill Gates and Microsoft haven't ever "gotten it" about free software or open source - even back when personal computers were mostly a hobby and not big business.
  All of the prior serious competitors that Microsoft has had to deal with have been profitmaking corporations. Microsoft management at least knows the mindset, understands their competitor's goals, and this enables them to formulate a strategy for winning. Not so with Open Source - Microsoft is still trying to understand it. It's awfully hard to formulate a strategy when you don't understand the opponent's motivations or goals.
  Linux users never really do get it, do they? (Score:2)
  There really does seem to be a critical mass of "I use Linux because I hate Microsoft" sentiment in the Linux userbase. That critical mass seems to grow every day. It's a real problem for Linux, too, because once there are enough carpers and whiners on board NOTHING will get done.
  Personally, I use Win98, Win95, Linux, NT (3.51 and 4.0), and NetBSD on the various machines on my home network, (none of them dual-boot) and may be reinstalling BeOS again soon on one of my machines. The name of the game is interoperability in a mutli-platform world. All of them have their relative merits, and only fools dig their heels in and claim that the OS they happen to be using is the ONE TRUE THING. If you're gonna cop that attitude, spare us. Join a monestary somewhere.
  Re:Hmm. (Score:1)
  But who wrote those apps in the first place? (Score:1)
  Isn't that Microsoft, too? Because breaking others' applications is a standard practice for Microsoft.
  Says a lot about "having a roadmap".
  Re:Missing the Point: Its about DEVELOPER MINDSHAR (Score:1)
  "Stasis field" economics. (Score:1)
  But as with any 'movement' its really only a matter of time until someone smart comes along and works out the economy of how to profit from it from a pure market-economy/capitalist perspective.
  Look, better people than you and I have fought the "OSS for Profit" argument and both sides have lost. So lets just not go there.
  But allow me to make the point that your "stasis field" economic view is a *potentially* primitive one, which you will at some point have to adjust in order to survive in future economies.
  Exchange of goods/services takes many shapes and sizes, you know... and there are quite a few people making a very acceptable and comfortable living within the OSS movement... perhaps we should be highlighting these individuals/organizations instead of bullshitting amongst ourselves?
  Missing the Point: Its about DEVELOPER MINDSHARE!! (Score:4)
  Anyone that's been to one of Microsofts numerous "Developer Days" knows that it's a cushy love-fest between Microsoft and a bunch of developers soaking up the glory to be had from carting around Free Shit from Microsoft. It's an excellent study in modern propaganda techniques.
  Now, what Open Source represents to Microsoft is a threat to their efforts at cultivating this key asset in their strategies, which is, again, Developer Mindshare.
  You see, most of the really and truly bright and smart developers out there are often very interested in looking at other peoples code, in the hopes that they can gleen some nugget or pearl of programming wisdom, or in some cases maybe rip a function or two for use in their own work.
  This is a big part of a professional software developers technique - any true pro knows that he never stops learning, and in his quiet times will gladly check out someone elses code.
  This is the true threat to Microsoft and it's coveted cache of "Developer Mindshare", a threat from the heart and sould of the OSS community, and it is this threat that they will be responding to with any of their own OSS-type campaigns in the future.
  They'll be working on:
  a) Keeping their Developer Mindshare interested in Microsoft products, and only Microsoft products. Which means if we do get source code released from them, it'll be specific to Win32-based platforms, and will leave just enough out to make porting not worthwhile. Or it'll be really crappy parts of their Win32 universe, as others have pointed out.
  b) Cultivating new developers by giving them more Free Shit from Microsoft, which will more than likely take form of a CD bundled with source code from Microsoft for new programmers to seek wisdom from, or steal stuff from for their own products (which will only run on Microsoft OS'es).
  And watch for a sacrificial lamb gesture: they'll probably make a "Lite" version of their developer tools freely available for download off the 'net. Maybe Win2k will come with a "Lite" version of Visual Basic or something, or their C compiler will be released, with all of it's Microsoft-isms carefully designed to make code a pain in the ass to port to other OS's...
  What the OSS community needs to watch for is the "Free Shit from Microsoft" factor. Anything we can do to make the "Free Shit from Microsoft" less valuable to a newbie developer is worth the effort...
  Its the *NEW* developer that we need to be attracting to the OSS camp, and away from the greedy clutches from Microsoft, and I believe that Microsoft know this all too well...
  The line in the sand has been drawn.
  Re:Not true (Score:1)
  Re:The percieved contradiction is imaginary. (Score:1)
  So you oppose the Mozilla project, since it was not Open Source from day 1?
  Re:Not true (Score:1)
  Links:
  old news.com story [news.com].
  Caldera's take on it (more recent) [calderathin.com]
  A microsoft witness says the company destroyed documents relating to this case [redherring.com].
  BTW, all these links are from old slashdot articles (some from September 1998, a few from 1999). Search for "caldera suit" on
  Re:Linux users never really do get it, do they? (Score:1)
  MS believes that most business owners when undrstanding the various drawbacks and risks associated with their OSes will make an informed decision to go with their product in the face of paying to maintain a more premeir environement. They quote stupid stats like 99.97% uptime and business owners figure that sounds pretty damn good. So the blow the bucks on the MS solution and get some certified dudes on the payroll to find out that the
  MS couldn't care less if the informed user/developer chooses their environment. The informed user/developer doesn't control the purse strings.
  The percieved contradiction is imaginary. (Score:1)
  One thing not mentioned... (Score:3)
  Re:About time... (Score:1)
  Windows will never be an incredible OS.
  The Win32 API is an abomination. It violates every accepted rule of good, sane programming practice. If the interface is that bad, imagine what the implementation must be like.
  TedC
  The stall factor (Score:1)
  Hopefully promising "eventually to consider" open source will stall people from going to Linux, right? Why even mention it if they obviously aren't serious, right?
  they can't win (Score:4)
  MS have been so demonised by fanatical linux zealots that, let's face it, whatever they say or do from now until the end of time, there will be people on
  My advice? grow up and get a life.
  What license? (Score:5)
  Microsoft is just doing it to be on the latest bandwagon, they're doing it because they feel it will ultimately make them money. They don't want to miss the boat like they missed the Internet. I think most businesses which are truly in the Open Source market (Cygnus, for example) are there because they believe in it. Microsoft will only muddy the waters with proprietary licenses.
  The only products of theirs that are worth open sourcing are the operating systems. It'd be nice to have the source so Windows programmers could more easily diagnose system crashes and strange behavior. Open sourcing Microsoft Word would never work---you think Mozilla had a long ramp up time, imagine Microsoft Word!
  Just remember, if Microsoft open sources anything it won't be for your good, it'll be for theirs. You won't be able to distribute changes or binaries. It won't be Open Source (tm), it'll be Microsoft Semi-Open Source with an End User License Agreement that would make RMS puke.
  Re:Ballmer (Score:1)
  Bill is the emporor Palpatine,
  and Steve is Darth Vader.
  "The number of suckers born each minute doubles every 18 months."
  -jafac's law
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Providing source code solves problems. If you release just a piece of the whole you may not get any problems solved. But Microsoft is not releasing the code to solve problems. They are just doing it because it's trendy, like smoking cigars or having a lesbian fling.
  Microsoft will have to open up a big chunk of code (because everything is the OS ) to make it worth someones time.
  And you thought APSL 1.0 was bad... (Score:1)
  I should also reiterate an argument which has been stated before: several-million-plus-line projects don't seem to do well when they start proprietary and then go Open-Source later. It seems as though the mig stuff almost has to be Open-Source from the very beginning to be successful. This is understandable, since that means you get a team of developers who've worked on this project as an Open-Source project right from day one, to help the new programmers out.
  In short, even if M$ does do this, it'll fail miserably. And then they'll likely use that to spout some more FUD.
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:2)
  I'm sure the guys over at WineHQ couldn't find a single peice of code that they could need.
  You'd have to admit, open sourced Windows would be a great step in getting win32 applications working CORRECTLY on Linux. While they're doing a great job with Wine, there's still a lot to do that would be a lot easier with the origional source (GPLed of course)
  Linux+Samba+Apache+sendmail+KDE/Gnome terrifies MS (Score:1)
  Why?
  They are absolutely terrified, otherwise why all the FUD? Linux has made MS completely redundant. With KDE and Gnome, you simply don't need a Windows desktop, with Samba and Apache you don't need an NT server, with sendmail and IMAP, you don't need Exchange. With apps like KDE Office, Gnumeric etc even MS Office will be completely excess to requirements.
  On top of the above you have the promiscuous GPL licensing terms.
  My god, I'm not surprised they are afraid.
  spot on (Score:2)
  i was going to quote the same line...m$ is just a roving preditor, cashed up and looking to get in on the latest fad to increase market share.
  SERIOUS QUESTION
  would anyone in their right mind want to hack for instance a GNU-NT? (i'm thinking something fast and with a lot of hard drive space.) would anyone hazard a guess as to what type of machine setup one would need to do this?
  does anyone know what compiler m$ uses to compile NT code? surely not Visual C++? does anyone know the answer to this. imop, any such effort by m$ to open their code would meet the same response wrt the open source community as with aol/netscape mozilla escapade. i couldn't see a useable development cycle using this model.
  The code... (Score:1)
  "'m sorry -- but no one wants to dig through any Microsoft code, other than to laugh at some of the awful programming technices. This guy has no more clue about coding than any other typical president at a typical software company...it's really beginning to show now, though. "
  Well.actually, just out of curiosity, I'd like to
  see it. Check if we're doing *very* different
  things and all. I *suspect* we are but still...
  It *would* be interesting.
  Look at it this way (Score:3)
  Netscape elearsed their source as an effort to save their declining market share. Microsoft is still going from strength to strength and although their product quality would surely improve if they open sourcsd it they would lose millions of dollars (and what do you think MS is concerned with quality or making money).
  So if they're going to make anything open source it is going to be under their terms and certainly not under an existing open source licence. There would be no freedom (in the sense of free speech, and probably not even free beer!), MS may even charge a fee to access the source and even if not they'll limit the freedom to redistribute binaries / modifications.
  Perhaps they'll only open source components of the OS that Microsoft developers are having difficulty with in the hope that the OSS community will solve all their problems. Well that will be unlikely unless they can then incorporate the code into their own projects.
  Basically no reasonbto get excited over.
  --
  yes and no (Score:1)
  yes, linux is succesfull because of open-source model but it's not the only think which makes linux "the best" for us.
  and i agree with Omar Djabji that being "anti-M$" (or not content with M$ or being annoyed by M$) is not enought to switch to alternative solution. at leat for masses.
  ask users of M$ software whether they are content with it. especialy ask people which's work HIGHLY DEPENDS on mentioned products (i.e. people which are making theire bisinesses on such products, etc.)
  bypass over bypass ... (Score:1)
  i do have some programing experiences and i'm sure breaking some app with some fix is the best solution.
  ISV should push M$ to fix the bugs so they do not have to fix 3rd party apps to bypass bugs in OS thus risking that after OS upgrade (i.e. VEEEEEERY late bug fix) theire apps wont run.
  you miss the point (Score:1)
  Re:Menu code (Score:1)
  And ImageMagic repaint is all but optimized... Try moving a window in "OpaqueMove" mode over it...
  Or is it an X problem ? Off topic anyway.
  About time... (Score:2)
  --
  why would MS care about oss now? (Score:1)
  Menu code (Score:1)
  But then we'd all know just how low-quality MS's developement efforts really are.
  I'm thinking they're thinking, "no". (Score:1)
  Ballmer says,
  I predict that Microsoft will decide that revealing the actual source code is unnecessary, and that the best way to keep outside developers working on MS/Windows apps is business as usual. Host workshops, promote books for programmers on Windows "tricks", sell pointy-clicky GUI tools, but certainly don't let anyone outside see the code itself.
  If this conjecture is correct, then the only other thinking that Micros~1 will do about "open source" is how to discredit and crush it. Notice how, early in the article, Ballmer is embarrassed to even use the term.
  Oh come off it! (Score:1)
  Oh come off it! 30+ million lines of code and nothing we want to borrow. Give me a break, I'm pretty sure we could find a line or two that's usefull in that crap.
  Besides, think of the fun we could have with that little paper clip.
  wait, that's office
  ... okay, maybe your right.
  Re:Ahhh.. Mr. Ballmer... (Score:1)
  just a thought
  --Dave
  Re:They might be as well off working on better API (Score:1)
  Re:Old trick, new twist? (Score:1)
  from installing linux -- we already did that.
  They are scrambling to stop something that has
  already happened.
  I'm thinking about... (Score:1)
  ...NOT gonna happen.
  Re:Ballmer (Score:1)
  >Source, so far I haven't seen him spout any FUD so far - that's makes him seem like a saint compared to those
  >other guys (Muth, Gates for example).
  IIRC, Ballmer was the guy who claimed that there was a ``Chinese Wall" between the OS development team & the application development teams. And this was proof that Word, Excel & Powerpoint all happened upon those undocumented features in Windows 3.1 entirely by hard work.
  Ballmer always struck me as being to PHBs as Bill Gates is to the common garden-variety hacker: a ersatz knock-off of the real thing.
  Then again, Gates has a clue that Micro$oft is on a direct course with an iceburg: he has recently sold off some 260 million shares, & is spending his time on a speaker's tour of the world. Ballmer has been left to deal with the numerous challenges to Microsoft: BSD & Linux on the server side, 3Com's Palm Pilot on the handheld side, several competitors for tv-top controllers -- & the tv-top market may not be the next Killer Application. Ballmer may find himself tied to the mast as M$ starts its downward spiral.
  Geoff
  Re:The Code (Score:1)
  Dude, you need to switch brands of crack. It's not THAT big. And where do you get the idea that Win95 is written in Ada? It's compiled with VC++. This should give you a miniscule clue what it's written in.
  They might be as well off working on better APIs. (Score:2)
  Open source is exactly the wrong way to go about solving this problem. If the interface is complicated and messy, what's the code like?
  Unless they're encouraging people to work on said code, and folding any changes back into the code, they're wasting their time. And I for one would not work for free for the world's richest corporation. (Not that they'd want my meagre skills, but there you go.)
  K.
  -
  --
  To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
  Re:They might be as well off working on better API (Score:2)
  responsibility on the user to manage things. I don't know what the situation is here, of course
  The problem is, once you expose the implementation, people write to the implementation rather than the interface. Say you change the implementation but keep the interface. Code that depends on, say, the internal structure of an opaque context previously accessible only through API calls, can be broken.
  Of course in a perfect world, developers wouldn't do this, but we don't live in a perfect world.
  K.
  -
  --
  To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native.
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Talk talk talk (Score:1)
  Re:About time... (Score:1)
  Oh i dunno. I have difficulty believing it sometimes.
  Re:Hmm. (Score:3)
  Are you saying that there is no 'legacy' (i.e. old and buggy) interfaces in Linux?
  --
  This article was obvious from the beginning (Score:1)
  Looks to me that MS is going to open up tiny bits of their code, so that the public percieves them as going open source, and then the rest of us that know they're actually not will sit around and bicker with them about it, making us look like nitpickers and bad guys. Or some such. They have to have something nefarious in mind - Ballmer went through the entire article trying to discredit open-source as they were talking about actually using the model.
  Point is, this is all PR. There's (almost) nothing good that can come from MS open-source. It will be so heavily restricted no one could do anything but maybe fix bugs for them, but we're not about to do that for them...
  -lx
  M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Why do we want to have millions of lines of probably badly commented code for an even worse operating system? The idea of open source is so you can borrow portions of code, and I think we can all agree there's nothing in Windows we want to borrow.
  Microsoft Thinking(tm) (Score:3)
  No, it's not a 'full embrace', a 'full embrace' is a choke-hold, and open source is a slippery little bugger.
  Let's not forget, while we pat each other on the backs to celebrate the victory of open source over the tyranical Microsoft, that M$ did a lot of thinking about Digital Research, Lotus, Netscape...
  I believe MS already does as you suggest (Score:1)
  What goes around, comes around (Score:2)
  Where have I heard this before? Oh, yes! Macintosh System 7.0 had to preserve a number of the less desirable artifacts from System 6 to avoid breaking Word and Excel in places where they ignored Apple's programming rules. FEEEL how much pity I have for MS now.
  Embrace, extend, eliminate? (Score:5)
  Our response as a community should be: 1. We will not debug commercial software _just_ because it's open source. Open-sourcing a commercial product is not an excuse to short-change quality control or publish buggy software. 2. We will not accept anything less than full source disclosure. 3. We will use the courts to prevent anyone from misusing the "Open Source" trademark. Oh, and a last point just for MS: 4. We refuse to pay real money for the "privilege" of beta-testing future products.
  vaporware, anyone? (Score:1)
  One Micros~1 tactic which has worked well (especially vs. DR-DOS) is to announce plans for something just to keep the public from seriously considering competing products. By the time the Micros~1 version rolls out (often much later) the enthusiasm for the competitor's product is diminished considerably. I wonder if they are thinking about this strategy again - make some teaser announcements about moving towards "open source", so that the public won't put any faith in open source that is already available: "After all, we'd be better off to wait for the Microsoft version, right?"
  This sort of strategy wouldn't really dissuade the developers of open source software, because they already know what it's about and in many cases they're writing it for their own purposes anyway. But it might slow down adoption by the public of open source. If all you know are the buzzwords, then open source is good but Microsoft Windows with New Open-Source Technology(tm) is even better, right?
  Some people think that Ballmer's just making crazy off-the-cuff comments when he mentions open source like this, but I think there might be a deeper motivation. If Bill Gates wanted to keep the lid on this sort of thing, he could have told Ballmer to shut up about it weeks ago. Since Ballmer keeps talking about it, Micros~1 must see some benefit in keeping open source associated with them in the press. It remains to be seen whether their approach to open source is really a shift or just more of the usual tactics from Redmond.
  Re:hmmm: a hypothetical (Score:1)
  It depends (shades of the Gates testimony here) on how you define "success". If success is the fact that Linux has been known and continues to be known as a powerful, stable OS with an exciting development model, then Linux is a success with many people who aren't anti-MS but are just pro-"whatever works best". On the other hand, if success means that there is viable competitor to Microsoft that distracts Microsoft from embracing and extending your software company and its products, then the anti-MS motivation is certainly more clear. Linux probably owes something to both groups, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
  Maybe your name should be Monoposoft Coward. (Score:1)
  Digital Wokan, Tribal mage of the electronics age
  Re:Developers have to eat too (Score:1)
  Oh, nice comeback. Treat Open Source like some holy writ which can't be questioned, and then treat anyone who does like a saboteur. This sort of attitude does more damage to open source than the previous poster's does.
  Yes, it does take more creativity. How much money did YOU make writing Open source last year?
  Not everyone regards Open Source vs Microsoft as The Ultimate Moral Choice. The previous poster has made his choice, as he's entitled.
  Ballmer (Score:2)
  While Billy boy, who hasn't quite managed to grow up and give up his adolescent world domination fantasies, gets excited about mind-staggering new technologies like electronic mail in 1996 and, like your average Bad Guy, spends his days (and nights) contemplating various ways of crushing his oh-so-inconvenient opponents, Ballmer gives credit where it's due and admits that the Open Source development model is actually working - no buts. And don't forget the briefing with Microsoft executives where he stressed that the quality of Microsoft software must be improved.
  He might even be serious. If he is, I'd say he's the guy who can stop USS Microsoft from sinking into the sea of free, quality software. On the other hand, he might the proverbial last straw..
  Houston, we have a problem.
  'nerd's playground'? (Score:1)
  I suppose you don't follow the 'lousy boxed distributions' very close. Otherwise you'd be amazed by the speed with which they improve. The GUI is already here (in whatever flavour you prefer it). Next will come the office suit. And what will remain as a reason to install Windows (DTPs and some games for example) won't be something that is made by M$.
  "...the more people who will soon be back recognizing what a good thing they have in Windows, where they don't have to poke around under the hood like a Harley rider to get the machine running (again)."
  Working under Linux gets easier and easier every day. For the average guy solving a problem once in a while, boosts the self confidence, yet more of them would prefer to ride the bike than to poke under the hood day in, day out.
  Perhaps Linux will never be as easy to work with as Windows or Mac but there's a reason for that. Linus would never say: 'Hey guys, I decided that from now on we'll swap to a file cause Joe Redmond finds partitioning too hard". In any case I believe it will soon be easy enough even for the average PC user to jump across the platforms.
  Re:'nerd's playground'? (Score:1)
  Please, let's not get carried away. Your mom wouldn't be able to use it if you weren't around to help her and administer the machine. As much as I'd like to be able to recommend Linux to near illiterates, it still isn't there yet.
  "...Linux has always been able to use a file for swap... I first saw it in Unix in the mid '80s."
  I am aware that Linux can swap to a file as well but it isn't recommended. It would be easier to set but not as robust. Actually your words prove my point. When there is a design choice Linux would choose stability, and Windows is more likely to choose 'easyness'. So there.
  OK, I give up (Score:1)
  OTOH I cannot agree that you can separate installation from usage. To be easy to use means also to be easy to install because if you know that an installation is a no brain then you won't be afraid to tweak your system and add/remove packages.
  Not that it's hard to install. With Red Hat it's a fairly simple job. The hardware recognition could be improved though. When I read the advice that one should get all settings from the Device Manager in Windows I'm always reminded that the 'world domination' will have to wait a little more.
  And I also like to 'point and drool'. Heck, I like to drool without even pointing.
  Breakdown... (Score:1)
  WE ALL KNOW WINDOWS DOESN'T DO THE JOB!!!
  For that reason, he said the Linux open source development model is"interesting" but of limited value.
  HUH?
  Microsoft is now trying to determine which portions of its source code to release and whether the code should be licensed or available to everyone via the Internet, he said.
  PLEASE DON'T CONSIDER RELEASING WINDOWS 3.1 TO THE PUBLIC!!!
  Re:'nerd's playground'? (Score:1)
  This is not true. My mostly computer-illiterate mom can use Linux just fine. A point and drool interface is only a matter of configuration.
  As far as I know, Linux has always been able to use a file for swap instead of/in addition to a partition. The feature of swapping to a file instead of a partition predates Microsoft Windows. VMS did it. I first saw it in Unix in the mid '80s.
  Re:'nerd's playground'? (Score:1)
  Actually, I'm on the other side of the world
  I ran a Linux-based Internet server for several years that used swap files because I didn't give it enough space when I first set up the machine. It's slower, but I certainly wouldn't call it less robust. That machine had several uptimes into triple digits.
  I don't equate ease of use with ease of installation. Installation is something you do once, and then mostly forget about. Day to day use is more important (to me) and I am very tired of hearing people claim that Microsoft Windows is categorically easier to use than Linux on the desktop. It isn't.
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  You sound like a child - if I can't see it, it must be bad so I don't want to see it anyway...EVER...WAHHHH!
  What is it we call spreading things you can't possibly know as facts instead of speculation, based only on a strong dislike (dare I say hatred) of that thing? Oh yes...FUD!
  If it's bad for MS to give the OSS community FUD, its just as bad for us to give it to MS.
  MS source code may well be terrible, but doesn't that sound like a CHALLENGE? Unless your afraid to try, that is...
  hmmm: a hypothetical (Score:3)
  Would that make them more popular in the open source community? If it didn't, wouldn't that make the proponents of open source hypocrits?
  Think about it, would you think differently about MS? After thinking about it myself, as an advocate of the 'open source movement', I came to the conclusion that I would still have the same dislike for MS, and I still wouldn't support them in any way - be it financially or otherwise. Am I the only one that comes to this conclusion?
  If I'm not the only one, then this raises the question: if it really is the open-source model that is driving the success of Linux, then why wouldn't people feel differently about supporting MS if it was open-sourced?
  I guess there could be lots of answers to this question. The first one that pops into my mind is that maybe it really isn't the fact that Linux is open-sourced that is creating its success, but instead the fact that Linux just isn't a MS product.
  So, by following this thought process (which is fully based on my assumptions!), you can come to the conclusion that MS will not be any more successful by 'copying Linux' (and all other successful open-sourced software) and open-sourcing it's products. The only way MS can be successful is by not being MS.
  Just another crazy thought that came out of yet another sleepless night.
  --SONET
  Re:Ballmer knows us like we know him. (Score:1)
  Re:Ballmer knows us like we know him. (Score:1)
  The technological advances of Java can also be found in the newer versions of C++, Python, and Inferno. But to say J++ wasn't an affront to humanity is doing more than just disagreeing with the Java architecture.
  Java was made to keep the OS irrelavant, like it clearly should be. Especially for us coders. C++ and C do an okay job of this, as well, but J++ was made to bring back the old (and clearly wrong) thought that the OS does matter, and therefore for some mysterious reason you must pay good money to get it, just to run someone's J++ code.
  This is wrong, people. As linux advocates (or BSD or nerds in general), surely you see my point! Ballmer helped create the J++/Visual Basic/Sucky C++ compilers we have today. He did this not because he is a coder, but in order to force coders to chose to use Microsoft or Unix exclusively. Linux Zealots here chose Unix, and have voted with their feet by giving away code for free... just to counter Microsoft's powerful FUD machine.
  NOT ONE OF YOU WOULD WRITE CODE TO GET NO MONEY FOR IF YOU HAD A CHOICE IN THE MATTER. But, because microsoft is so powerful, the sad truth is there isn't much money in Linux! There's not too much money in coding for Windows, though, because most of the good programs are in turn stolen by Microsoft, so don't feel bad about your choice. But I stick with my choice: The OS is irrelavant; and someday all programs that run on only one OS will be irrelavant.
  -Ben
  (who codes C++ and Java. Corba too, sometimes.)
  Ballmer knows us like we know him. (Score:5)
  Let's get inside his head, people. He "knows" that:
  1) Open Source is a buzzword. Like JAVA (come on, here people, this is a trend), it is open and yet strangely helps another company more than them, and other big companies like IBM are embracing it. Just like java. Hmmm...
  2) Linux is a rival operating system, it runs on Intel hardware. It's just like OS/2. Pay it lip service about what it doesn't do yet, while they are light years ahead. Don't give it any more apps.
  3) GNU is a bunch of kooks who think software should be free. Cast them as ranting lunatics who have an idea (Open Source) that is now theirs (yoink). Then spread FUD about 'em. (Do you want these hippies making YOUR software? Or someone you know has your best interests in mind because you've given us all your money??)
  4) Call your broker and congradulate your stock owners. Enjoy a short vacation somewhere tropical and come back in time to destroy BeOS while praising it. "This would have been a great operating system, but as you can clearly see they do nothing useful, while our system does everything and for less money. We recomend you keep giving us your money and ignore these guys."
  -Ben
  Sounds like he's talking about an SDK (Score:1)
  Steve Ballmer made references to helping end-users to understand database integration better so this would make sense. Maybe mix in some chunks of code with some api calls and blitz the press with statements about how forward thinking MS is.
  I would love to be a bug in the Redmond campus when they are trying to figure out what to do with this open source *thing.* I think they will almost have to appear to embrace it somehow, or else they come off looking bad. Looking bad is bad for business and for MS image is everything.
  Ah well...back to work...
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Re:Give MS enough rope... (Score:1)
  not get any assistance from the hacker community at large. "
  Just one thing; apple's open source is just as good as Netscape's.
  My personal view is that they are better than BSD but way inferior GPL...
  Microsoft will probably choose this half-good kind of lisence to, but only with more of the BAD stuff added to it
  Re:they can't win (Score:2)
  Microsoft, of course, is in the top five of favorite
  /. flame targets. IMHO, they have earned it. No situation is hopeless, and it is never too late to reform. If Microsoft wanted to, they could make themselves into the sort of company that would be respected and even praised here. It would be a long journey.
  Nothing that they say can impress your average Slashdotter, simply because we are so used to the lies that they spout. Lie enough times, and you lose credibility. These are the masters of vaporware; these are the people who told us that Windows 95 no longer runs on a DOS; these are the ones stating that the open source of Linux makes it a security risk (quite the opposite; ask people in the crypto or security biz); these are the ones telling us that, with Linux, "users must manually synchronize user accounts across servers". Has anybody heard of NIS?
  I don't remember who said it first, but what they do speaks so loudly that we cannot hear what they say. This holds as truly for Microsoft as for anyone. So what do they do? They ship bloatware. They ship technically incompetent software. They ship "Operating Systems" (in quotes because people don't always agree on the definition of that term) that logs its uptime in days rather than months. They put BSOD in the vernacular. And that's just their software.
  Their business practices are arguably worse. They destroy the markets for their competitors (Netscape--Web Browser market). They misappropriate the licenses they purchase from other vendors to sabotage their products (Sun Microsystems--Java technology). They steal technology outright and ship it as their own (Stac--Disk compression technology, back in the DOS 6.x days). They ignore or pervert court orders (Netscape again--the "no bundling" agreement). Whether Microsoft is a monopoly depends on the defintion of that term--and the jury is literally still out on that one. However, they are undeniably a rogue corporation that operates above the law.
  The sheer power of Microsoft, plus the willingness to ignore ethical or legal restrictions, and their current focus on Linux, tends to unsettle your average Linux enthusiast. When one looks at the past history of Microsoft, one must be out of one's gourd to trust them at all.
  Microsoft can change all this. I think that the Linux zeal would be greatly lessened if Microsoft actually released a quality OS; one that is stable under fire, doesn't attempt to take up $1,000 of hardware by itself, and allows you to easily do the things that you bought the computer to do. I think that they couldn't enhance Windows to do that, but would have to start from scratch again. However, it could be done.
  Microsoft can gain Slashdot kudos simply by not lying. Almost everybody twists the truth a little bit, revealing the stuff in their favor and covering up the stuff that isn't. This is a far cry from making provably false statements in order to fool the chumps.
  Microsoft can impress us by doing the right thing. It would take a bit of doing so to show that they have truly changed their stripes, but it would be welcome here. Microsoft has long passed the point where they could impress us by talking about doing the right thing.
  We're skeptical--I list some of the reasons why above. Some of us are still hopeful--stranger things have happened--but we are still skeptical. Hope doesn't mean stupidity, after all.
  Re:Not thinking about it.. they want YOUR ideas! (Score:2)
  Speak the truth. It's a novel approach in this biz, but it's the Open Source approach. When you get your favorite Linux distro, the source CD says "Here's how we did it!" There is no back-room stuff about how this stuff is put together. You get the stuff with the blueprints.
  The truth is that half-hearted OSS doesn't work. OSS contributors won't contribute if they feel that they are being used, and those contributors tend to know if they are or not. Does OSS work as a post-proprietary conversion? The experiments in Netscape and Apple are still taking place. We'll tell people the truth when we figure out what it is.
  Our advantage over Microsoft is that we cherish the truth, and we share it promiscuously. Never let them take that advantage away from us. The truth shall set your code free.
  Give MS enough rope... (Score:4)
  1: Microsoft does nothing remotely like Open Source. Business as usual.
  2: Microsoft fully embraces Open Source and copylefts the entirety of Windows. By embracing I mean getting the mindset, and believing in it. Nothing less than Netscape's own buy-in would really count. This would take nothing less than a certifyable miracle (or heavy drugs). If this happens, a beautiful thing will happen. A fully Open Source Windows would turn into something worth running in a few years.
  3: Microsoft pays lip service to Open Source and tries to fit it into their current business model. They try to embrace and extend OSS, for development gain and/or mindshare gain.
  If they choose option 3, they play to their own weakness and will lose in both development cycles and mindshare.
  Technically, a partial Open Source strategy for Microsoft will work about as well as those of Apple and Al Gore. They will not get any assistance from the hacker community at large.
  Regarding mindshare, they will gain kudos only with those who think that Open Source is a Good Thing, but don't have a clue about what it is. I am not cynical enough to believe that there is a significant population of PHBs who meet those criteria.
  We hold the advantage precisely because Open Source is so antiintuitive. If one knows a little about Open Source, one concludes that the OSS buzz is coming from certified lunatics. One has to fully grok OSS to think that it's useful. even most PHBs think that Open Source is some form of madness. Those who think that OSS is a Good Thing are, by and large, those who understand it. And they will see the problems with a half-hearted approach.
  There are some that belive in the Gospel According to Bill; the term Open Source will turn from evil to wonderful the instant Microsoft "embraces" it. However, Microsoft can gain mindshare out of mindless MS zealots by releasing the Bill Gates Cardio Kickboxing workout DVD-ROM.
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  So in other words, there's no point in MS making any of their software open source, right?
  So you're saying you don't want it to happen.
  I thought Open Source was the "one true way of doing things" these days?
  Re:Not true (Score:1)
  When were these? Links, please.
  Also, anyone can sue anyone else in this country. You can sue if you spill your coffee over yourself. Being sued is no rubber-stamp of guilt.
  Re:Ballmer knows us like we know him. (Score:1)
  Yes, but not in the way you think it's wrong.
  It's WRONG because you're talking BULLSHIT.
  To run someone else's J++ code, install one of the latest versions of IE, or the Microsoft JVM. That's all you have to do. End of story.
  You don't have to pay anyone any money to run J++ code; you just install and go.
  Buying J++ to write the code is another matter; but if you really wanted to, you could just get the MS Java SDK and write it all by hand.
  Re:M$ Open Source (Absolute CRAP!) (Score:1)
  A call to the GNU Generation!
  -----------------------------------------------
  DON`T DO IT! M$ IS OWNED BY CAPITALISTS AND RUN BY THE VERY SAME.
  Hellloooo... if you really ARE a Linux/GNU advocate of any sort, you're perpetuating the "GNU == Communism" myth that people blame Microsoft for spreading. So get a clue, and learn the difference.
  Re:Hmm. (Score:2)
  No thanks. I already have several "open source solutions"...
  Thing is, it's all well and good for you to plan on fixing the bugs - but there are a great number of bugs that WE can't fix, because it'd break existing apps.
  That, unfortunately, is the Catch 22 we find ourselves stuck with.
  Re:spot on (Score:2)
  Yup, it's VC++ - in fact there's a site on the net somewhere that specifies which compiler options to use. Search for optimization and Cutler and NT, and you might find it.
  Ahhh.. Mr. Ballmer... (Score:1)
  And Ballmer is simply incapable of keeping silent on any topic...
  Anyone seen an interview with this guy?
  He could be the poster child for Attention Deficit Disorder.
  Steve, buddy - some free advice... cut down on the stimulants.. remember, Ritalin is your friend.
  Not thinking about it.. they want YOUR ideas! (Score:1)
  It sounds like flame bait, but it isn't. What happens is that they first "talk" about a new project. What they're really doing is throwing the topic into the air to collect comments. So, when Microsoft talks, they are actually listening. They listen to what everyone says. Then they go and make a very bad version 1.0 of it. People tell them what's wrong with it, and now they've got a version 1.1 of it.
  (One could go on to say that people then start requesting things they want added, and version 2.0 appears. Then people tell them what's wrong with it again, and version 2.1 is born. And so on. You get the picture... you're a Slashdotter, right?)
  So, Balmer announces to the media that "We're thinking about Open Source!" He gives a little tidbit or two of a thought. Now the real Microsoft army goes to work... The Media... and as much as I hate to say it... Slashdot too! People discuss the ramifications, hammer out the issues, raise the important points. Microsoft harvests the results of the collective IQ they focused on the issue. And if they don't get quite enough, they announce it again! And when they harvest enough, either the project is aborted, or Version 1.0 Open Source License is born.
  Microsoft is watching. Express your view! Discuss the treasures and traps of Open Source licensing. Tell them how they can embrace, extend, and corrupt the Open Source system. Aren't they evil? You got to love Microsoft like you love Darth Vader. I'm just waiting for Bill to take the mask off.
  Re:Hmm. (Score:1)
  in this case you did "The Wrong Thing [TM]" and the only "Right Thing[TM]" to do is start over...
  yea it sucks, and will hurt you in the checkbook but this will fix the bugs and make better software etc. example linux moved from glib5 to 6 this broke alot of programs but it was the right thing to do, it fixed bugs and made the software better, (in the end).
  M$'s main problem isnt just all the bugs it's how they write software. ie "you are a USER and we are the PROGRAMMERS. and the PROGRAMMER knows what is best for the USER. USERS are dumb us PROGRAMMERS will fix the bugs when we feel like it, or the USER pays extra for it."
  ( i dont know if M$ really trys to make users of their software feel this way, just my feeling after using there software for years and years, then trying linux and liking the relationship i can have with a develper of an app. )
  nmarshall
  #include "standard_disclaimer.h"
  R.U. SIRIUS: THE ONLY POSSIBLE RESPONSE
  Re:hmmm: a hypothetical (Score:1)
  I do not use Linux because it is not MS, or because it is open source. I use it because it is a better product. A unix-like operating system that is free and stable. I bet that 90% of the people who use Linux do not hack the code. I have not, and I am a programmer (but I do like the idea that I can). As Linux grows more popular in the main stream, this percentage will rise.
  Most people I talk to don't like mircrosoft. But that is not enough of a reason for them to switch to another product. In order for them to switch, the product must be better.
  The Linux comunity needs to focus on building the best product possible. When we do that, users will come (If you build it, they will come). I am sure that those who are actually doing the coding already have this mindset.
  Re:M$ Open Source is Useless (Score:1)
  Erm... it's called "code reuse" and/or "modular fan-in" (choose your poison), and it's one of the primary goals of software design...
  clean code does not generate trash like that
  You mean statically linked code, right? That's actually a step _backwards_ from dynamically linked code...
  Cheers
  Alastair
  Re:"open source" == two bad words at Microsoft (Score:1)
  I'm not sure it's safe to jump to that conclusion... some of the tricks in Microsoft's OSes and applications are quite funky, and the code behind 'em might actually teach us a thing or two...
  Cheers
  Alastair
  Re:why would MS care about oss now? (Score:1)
  I would be interested to see if they consider realising the source to some of their older products (e.g. DOS, Windows 3.1). If they released these products as is into the community it could spark some interest in OSS in general, and at the same time Microsoft wouldn't really be giving away too many secrets.
  Cheers
  Alastair
  Re:The Code (Score:1)
  Why would the fact that 95 is written in Ada (it isn't, but let's not let the facts blind us here) reduce its worth in the eyes of the OSS community?
  And NT is mostly C, but has hundreds of millions lines of code (250 million I believe maybe it was 350).
  NT 4 is about 5, maybe 6 million lines of code. W2K is slated to top 30 million.
  Cheers
  Alastair
  Re:In trouble (Score:1)
  NT 4 has about 5, maybe 6 million lines. W2K is slated to to 30 million.
  My guess is that they have reached a point where MS VC++ simply looks at the code, and says "no way, man"
  Erm, I don't think it's likely to all be in one file, you know.
  IMHO, Open Source is the only way for MS-Windows to survive in the long run.
  Why?
  Surely any product can survive as long as it's better than the competition? For most users, the (sad?) truth is that Windows is a better bet than Linux because it's more accessible and offers a wider range of applications... it's those two points that the OSS community need to address in order to make Linux more palatable on the desktop...
  (As always, my _very_ humble opinion
  Cheers
  Alastair
  Re:This article was obvious from the beginning (Score:1)
  If Ballmer was at a trade show or some other Microsoft-centric event, then it's possible his use of the phrase "excuse the words" was actually a gentle piss-take on Microsoft's non-OSS-centric development mindset
  We weren't there, we don't know the exact context of his comments, so we probably shouldn't try to read _too_ far between the lines...
  Cheers
  Alastair