Microsoft's foreign policy on Linux

ToshiroOC · Mar 7, 2003, 12:36 PM

For Microsoft, is there a worse nightmare than a world filled with pirated copies of Windows?

Windows piracy outside the United States will likely cost Microsoft tens of millions of dollars, if not more, in 2003, serious enough to warrant management's close attention but relative chump change for a company with $28.4 billion in annual sales.

Still, for the most powerful software company of our time, there's something far worse: a world filled with copies of Linux.

The Penguinistas and like-minded folks in the collaborative software movement may yet remain far from realizing world domination, but they are nonetheless making clear inroads. Indeed, several foreign governments are considering legislation to mandate the use of open-source or free software--unless proprietary software is the only feasible option.

You can understand why this is the sort of thing that would make Bill Gates grind his teeth: If left unchecked, international acceptance of open-source software would pose the most dangerous threat to the supremacy of the Windows monopoly operating system since Janet Reno dragged Microsoft into court in the late 1990s.

To be fair, those were the bad boy days, when Steve Ballmer was famously quoted telling the United States attorney general to go to eternal perdition. That demonstration of bad manners proved costly, and Microsoft is not making the same mistake twice.

By way of comparison, Microsoft is displaying a surprisingly deft touch in its dealings with foreign governments. In a bid to slow the open-source groundswell, Microsoft last January announced a plan to share the source code underlying the Windows operating system. Considering how long Microsoft fought against divulging its "secret sauce" to any outsider, regardless of whether their e-mail address ended with .gov or .com, that seemingly rates as a mind-blowing capitulation.

Foreign governments also view software diversification to be in their national interest.
The reality is otherwise.

For the record, Microsoft maintains its Government Security Program is only a response to general concerns about the security of its operating systems. So it is that the program allows governments to view source code for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and CE. They also can use that code to build those versions of Windows as well as view security documentation that Microsoft does not otherwise share.

Microsoft is being too modest about its accomplishment.

--By Charles Cooper, source: news.com (CNET)

Article can be read here.

Mar 7, 2003, 12:36 PM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Microsoft's foreign policy on Linux For Microsoft, is there a worse nightmare than a world filled with pirated copies of Windows? Windows piracy outside the United States will likely cost Microsoft tens of millions of dollars, if not more, in 2003, serious enough to warrant management's close attention but relative chump change for a company with $28.4 billion in annual sales. Still, for the most powerful software company of our time, there's something far worse: a world filled with copies of Linux. The Penguinistas and like-minded folks in the collaborative software movement may yet remain far from realizing world domination, but they are nonetheless making clear inroads. Indeed, several foreign governments are considering legislation to mandate the use of open-source or free software--unless proprietary software is the only feasible option. You can understand why this is the sort of thing that would make Bill Gates grind his teeth: If left unchecked, international acceptance of open-source software would pose the most dangerous threat to the supremacy of the Windows monopoly operating system since Janet Reno dragged Microsoft into court in the late 1990s. To be fair, those were the bad boy days, when Steve Ballmer was famously quoted telling the United States attorney general to go to eternal perdition. That demonstration of bad manners proved costly, and Microsoft is not making the same mistake twice. By way of comparison, Microsoft is displaying a surprisingly deft touch in its dealings with foreign governments. In a bid to slow the open-source groundswell, Microsoft last January announced a plan to share the source code underlying the Windows operating system. Considering how long Microsoft fought against divulging its "secret sauce" to any outsider, regardless of whether their e-mail address ended with .gov or .com, that seemingly rates as a mind-blowing capitulation. Foreign governments also view software diversification to be in their national interest. The reality is otherwise. For the record, Microsoft maintains its Government Security Program is only a response to general concerns about the security of its operating systems. So it is that the program allows governments to view source code for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and CE. They also can use that code to build those versions of Windows as well as view security documentation that Microsoft does not otherwise share. Microsoft is being too modest about its accomplishment. --By Charles Cooper, source: news.com (CNET) Article can be read here.