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Why Windows must go open source

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Edvard:
InformationWeek's Charlie Babcock says what many others have wanted and tried and some never dared to say over the years, but then again, they're not IW editors...

To maintain its developer ecosystem and protect its apps business, Microsoft has no choice but to loosen its grip on the Windows source code and drive down costs...
...
But people are wrong when they assume that Microsoft will never move Windows down the open source path. To neutralize the advantages of Linux and other open source competitors, Microsoft will have to make Windows more like them. If it doesn't, it risks losing the 6-million-plus developer base that's made the Windows platform great. Microsoft may not want to open up Windows to the world, but it will. Indeed, it must.

--- End quote ---

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212903501




Me, I'm not convinced. Sure, there would be nice things about such developments (and there have been...) but for the bulk of Microsoft to become just another SourceForge project?
Never. Ever.
from another place I kinda forgot...

Ehtyar:
A lengthy bit of media trawling IMO. This plain and simply is not going to happen, at least on the scale the article promotes.

Ehtyar.

Deozaan:
Yeah I don't get it either. Is Windows really starting to lose a huge market share to Linux? I didn't even know they were really competing.

I used to work for Directv and one of the things I learned there was that Dish Network was not our competitor. We weren't worried at all with Dish Network because they were so far behind in regards to market share. Our real competitor was Cable.

Considering how vastly small the Linux user base is (relatively speaking, and not counting Servers), I just can't see in what universe anyone would truly think Windows is competing with Linux.

40hz:
All Microsoft and the closed source world would have to do is start buying various FOSS projects (i.e. MySQL. etc.) and that would end it. Many of these projects benefit from free contributions from all the supporting developers out there. Once all the people who are working for free start noticing how some people are becoming millionaires and the whole FOSS social contract will come crashing down.

This has happened before. Look how open the early days of personal computing were. Even Apple used to give out copies of their code to anyone who asked for it. Then along came Bill Gates who announced he wanted $50 for 'his' basic interpreter - and anyone who was using it without paying was a thief. (Sound familiar?)

Despite the fact that much of the personal computing world cried "foul", they all soon  followed in his footsteps and the age of 'proprietary' personal computing was born.

Lately it looks like this scenario is starting to happen again.

Microsoft will always be a bigger threat to FOSS than the other way around.

I think Charlie Babcock is either going to have to start doing a less potent (or a more potent ) dope than the one he's currently using. Because whatever he's been smoking, it just ain't working for him.

 ;)

f0dder:
40hz: I'd say it's working just fine if he can live in his own little fantasy world? ;)

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