code originally licensed under Ms-RL to be licensed according to the copyright holder's choosing. This is similar, but not the same as the CDDL, EPL or LGPL (GPL with a typical "linking exception"). Initially known as the Microsoft Community License, it was renamed during the OSI approval process. On December 9, 2005, the Ms-RL license was submitted to the Open Source Initiative for approval by John Cowan. OSI then contacted Microsoft and asked if they wanted OSI to proceed. Microsoft replied that they did not wish to be reactive and that they needed time to review such a decision. At the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in July 2007, Bill Hilf, director of Microsoft's work with open source projects, announced that Microsoft had formally submitted Ms-PL and Ms-RL to OSI for approval. It was approved on October 12, 2007, along with the Ms-PL. According to the Free Software Foundation, it is a free software license but not compatible with the GNU GPL. Restricted licenses The following source-available software licenses have limitations that prevent them from being open-source according to the Open Source Initiative and free to the Free Software Foundation. Microsoft Limited Public License (Ms-LPL) This is a version of the Microsoft Public License in which rights are only granted to developers of Microsoft Windows-based software. This license is not open source, as defined by the OSI, because the restriction limiting use of the software to Windows violates the stipulation that open-source licenses must be technology-neutral. It is also considered to be non-free by the Free Software Foundation due to this restriction. Microsoft Limited Reciprocal License (Ms-LRL) This is a version of the Microsoft Reciprocal License in which rights are only granted when developing software for a Microsoft Windows platform. Like the Ms-LPL, this license is not open source because it is not technology-neutral due to its restriction that licensed software must be used on Windows, and is also not considered free by the Free Software Foundation due to this restriction. Microsoft Reference Source License (Ms-RSL) This is the most restrictive of the Microsoft Shared Source licenses. The source code is made available to view for reference purposes only, mainly to be able to view Microsoft classes source code while debugging. Developers may not distribute or modify the code for commercial or non-commercial purposes. The license has previously been abbreviated Ms-RL, but Ms-RL now refers to the Microsoft Reciprocal License. Criticism