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WSJ Reports On MS Using Open Source
Graeme Turnbull writes: "As I was logging out of hotmail (shutup..) this evening, and as the Passport service automatically forwards me to ca.msn.com (knowing I originate from Ca), I noticed the headline 'Microsoft Uses Open-Source Code Despite Denying Use of Such Software.' The story is care of The Wall Street Journal. Due to the somewhat anti-MS tone of the article, I found it strange that this was linked from a MSN site!"
Update: 06/18 by J : Several of our readers have pointed out an interesting allegation this morning at The Register:
MSNBC doctors anti-MS WSJ story. Update: 06/18 by N : And several people @wsj.com have written to me to say that MSNBC picked up an early version of the story for syndication; this early version also appeared in the majority of the print runs for the WSJ. More details about half way down.
Unfortunately, this means that every program ever written includes, er, "code" from /bin/true
and hence is in violation of AT&T copyright...
(Posted as AC so that AT&T's lawyers don't sue my sorry ass for publishing their unpublished proprietary source code)
If you use MS Excell 2k, and put a "saved querry object" in your spreadsheet, such as MS's Stock Data getter thingie, run it, and then follow the link the the legal agreement of using it, you will find that there is a segment within the legal agreement describing the applet's use of gnuplot . Hrmmm....
% more
#!/usr/bin/sh
# Copyright (c) 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 AT&T
#ident "@(#)clear.sh 1.8 96/10/14 SMI"
# Copyright (c) 1987, 1988 Microsoft Corporation
# All Rights Reserved
# This Module contains Proprietary Information of Microsoft
# Corporation and should be treated as Confidential.
Gosh. And what is this proprietary information, I hear you ask?
# clear the screen with terminfo.
# if an argument is given, print the clear string for that tty type
/usr/bin/tput ${1:+-T$1} clear 2>
exit
Ooh, these 'leet Microsoft programmers....
Baz
It is horrible PR.
No it is not! Do you really thinkg MS's PR is aimed at the slashdot crowd? Or do you think it's aimed at the PHB's who allocate funds for software purchases? Repeat after me:
GEEKS DO NOT CONTROL THE PURSE STRINGS.
MS is a business; their goal is to make money; their advertising is targeted at people who spend money on software. 'Nuff said.
See this story over at The Reg.
--
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
The Register is reporting that MSNBC originally doctored the WSJ and then restored it after they got caught.
The story is here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19771.html
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
I suspect there's alot more BSD code in MS-Windows[*|NT], but either compressed to hide the UC copyright or licenced more recently without the "obnoxious advertising" BSD clause.
No he did not. Read this paragraph:
[...] The Microsoft spokesman, in acknowledging that fact, said it didn't contradict the company's many recent anti-open-source statements. He said that's because Microsoft's main objection has been to Linux, which has a more restrictive licensing arrangement than FreeBSD. Microsoft, though, hasn't previously suggested that there were benign forms of open-source software, and while singling out Linux for special criticism, has tended to criticize all open-source with the same broad brush.
Right. In the recent anti-GPL FUD, it tried to broaden the attack to all Open Source. Looks like it's backfiring now, especially to the general public who cannot see the nuances between GPL and other open source licenses. Now they read MS is using it themselves...
BTW, it looks to me like MS' campaign is kind of working. A lot of my not-into Linux friends ask me questions lately about the issues of using Linux at their work - the FUD is spreading! I hope it really is countered with articles like this one in the main stream press.
You know that all of those guys in the applications division run linux and bsd at home.
Or at work. There was Linux on plenty of desktops at their support center at Las Colinas. I did support for them for about 6 months, and there was plenty of discussion about Linux, the trial ( I started just after the Jackson's FoF), and what the outcomes would be like.
With all of the FUDmongering that comes out of Redmond, you'd think that Linux would be a four - letter word at Microsoft, but they use the same number of letters there as anywhere else in the English - speaking world.
They were generously unconcerned about what software, what os, and what games we had on our machine. OTOH, there was a huge THOU SHALT NOT USE OPEN -SOURCE TOOLS TO DEVELOP mentality, that probably forced developers to conform to a standard - approved tools list.
What I don't understand, is why Microsoft's PR department insists on causing so much controversy. This anti open source movement only reinforces their draconian reputation. Sun is no better than Microsoft (if they only had Microsoft's monopoly we would be living in the 3rd Reich). But at least Sun's PR actually attempts to soften their image.
Coming out against Open Source is like attacking charitable causes. It is horrible PR.
Microsoft has increased its licencing fees by estimates of 100%. It has dropped negotiations with AOL over issues of content controlling (its browser wars II, Return of the Media). To cover up these clear demonstrations of monopoly abuse, the company has assulted open source???
Someone you trust is one of us.
The most significant thing about this article is that it is from the Wall Street Journal. Its the second anti MS article in a week. They called smart tags "dangerous".
The Journal is conservative, it is voice of the establishment. It is also one of the best newspapers in the world.
As the voice of the establishment, the fact that it has gone sour on MS is tremendously significant. It means that Corporate America is turning against them.
Why does this matter? Because, if the "business community" is against MS, then the Bush administration will see them as a political liability.
And what happens to companies that become political liabilities? Well, what happened to ADM? or the tobacco companies? They got hung out to dry.
Wishful thinking? Possibly, but two negative stories in the Journal in a week is one of those red flags only monomania can blind someone to.
Really? Well. I can think of one ... and its name begins with M.
A simple
find "Regents" C:\WinNT\System32\FTP.exe
should do it.
You could, of course, argue that this is only programs using the existing TCP/IP stack, but it still means MS is using BSD code.
M.
I found the following files in a W98SE with IE automatic update verification enabled:
sgis ddo ekil t'nod i
I know of a software shop where the NON-MS side of the house is maybe 5 people, and the MS side of the house is maybe 25 to 50. The usual thing databases, etc. Guess which side, which department ins more productive? hint, it is not the MS Side. The smaller department outright outproduces the MS department. And is the department that is keeping the company afloat. Of course, this is upsetting to the the MS crew who wants to phase out the NON-MS department.
What this says to me is that MS has been promoting widespread programmer incompetancy and inflated cost of ownership. How else to explain the above scenario? How else to explain the need for dozens of people in one scenario in one body of technology where the same thing is accomplished by a mere handful? If the personnel are legitamate experts, then that means that the technology itself is inherently flawed.
The only thing saving those MS geeks in that company is that the managers have bought the MS marketing line, despite the reality of accounting figures. When they get rid of the older system, they will likely kill the company.
the last paragraph of the WSJ Article says it best:
In its campaign against open-source, Microsoft has been unable to come up with examples of companies being harmed by it. One reason [...] is that virtually all the available evidence suggests that open source is "a huge advantage" to companies. "They are able to build on a common standard that is not owned by anyone," he said. "With Windows, Microsoft owns them."
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Maybe they have more integrity than censoring news stories that put their community in a bad light (unlike /. or most US news centres of course).