What's the Business Case for Microsoft and Open Source?

Friend of perl developers everywhere, Jeremy Zawodny, has an intriguing question: "If you had to explain to Microsoft why they should change their attitude toward Open Source, what would you say?" For more about this, read on... From Jeremy: "If you had to explain to Microsoft why they should change their attitude toward Open Source, what would you say? More to the point, how can Microsoft benefit from better supporting or even adopting Open Source in their business? (Replace IIS with Apache, for example.) Does it make sense for them? Are there ways that they can use Open Source as a competitive advantage without pissing off the Open Source community in the process? Which of their products would make sense on Open Source platforms? How can the Open Source community help Microsoft? Or is this a lost cause? IBM has made it work. Can Microsoft?

I ask these questions because I may have the chance to talk with folks at Microsoft about Open Source. And it only makes sense that I look to the community for input. So let's hear it. Flames won't help. Thoughtful answers and ideas very well could."

Comments

Give up Bill. We have you surrounded.

[chromosundrift]

Let's face it, things don't really look that good for Microsoft. They're teetering on the edge of an abyss, it's only a matter of time.

Their money can't last forever, sure it might last two, maybe three milennia, but not forever, right?

I think deep down in his wallet, Bill knows he's beaten. The first time I saw that rabbit-in-headlights look in his eyes was when he had just wiped cream out of them.

Like the fall of Rome, It's all so horribly inevitable.

Obligatory Simpsons Reference

[brunes69]

I'm suprised they haven't sent the boys around to break RMS' and Linus Torvalds' kneecaps or roll over them with a bus.

"Buy 'em out boys!"

Re:I'm confused

[xtremex]

Even though I'm unemployed, and HAVE been for a while, I will not accept a job where more than 50% of my time is on a Microsoft technology. Nothign to do with my opinion of the company. But I've done both, and the headaches I got from MS solutions (NT, IIS, etc) have made me realize that I got into this field because i LOVE this stuff. I'm not going to do soemthing I hate. I refuse to.