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MS Proposes Disclosing Windows Source To India
raghuram writes "Interesting news from Economic Times of India, I found an interesting story, Microsoft Planning to Share Code with India." He excerpts from that article: "Microsoft has already made a proposal to the ministry of information technology (of India) for sharing the Windows source code with one government body. The nature of the body has not been spelt out; it will presumably be worked out after discussions between the company and the government officials. Interestingly, the offer comes at a time when state governments are showing interest in rival Linux operating system as the latter's source code is free and downloadable from the internet."
It sounds like Microsoft is running scared now. They realise that India is a powerhose because it has way more people (population) than the United States.
India seems to be tilted toward linux right now and if the linux movement there gets into full swing, the momentum will be very, very hard for Microsoft to stop.
I hope the Indians look to the long terms effects of the windows and linux paths, as opposed to short terms benefits.
In general, they're already paying for it (at least the goverments are, and I don't know how bad the piracy problem is in India...)
I think what's got Microsoft talking opening their source to the Indian government is that India and some other nations have been making noises about switching to open-source OSes. Maybe this is the first of several overtures to fractious governments.
Microsoft, after all, can offer some pretty tasty carrots with their sticks...
Don't fall for that MS crap-trap. They might give you the source, but with a shit-load of draconian circumstances and catches that will make it unuseable.
Even if they do give India the source, it'll only be temporary -- for now, to prevent them from switching to Linux. Once India is dependant on MS, it'll be no more source and no more cheap-deals for them.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
... it could be Windows 3.11 that they're gonna release the source for.
So, Microsoft is offering show the Windows source to India, potentially tainting a 15% of the world's population with their intellectual property?
I can't think of a better way to manufacture thousands of Windows developers while at the same time denying Open Source access to a billion people.
"Einstein argued that [...] God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer." ~ Brooks
... they aren't willing to share source code in the U.S. for "security" reasons, but they are willing to pass on the source code to a country in the midst of a volatile conflict with a growing nuclear weapons program ...
...
and so now it's friday the 13th per GMT. maybe this is a fitting time to run the story
when it rains, it gets real soggy. when it pours, i'm under the tap just _waiting_ for the joy
And here you have the conspiracy-theorist motive for such an action: MS isn't afraid of India switching to Linux, but of the millions of engineers India turns out becoming millions of open source Linux programmers. But if MS can ensure that they will all have seen the Windows sources at some point, then they'll never again be able to contribute code to any major project, lest MS get all litigious about the possibility of misappropriated code. Might not win in the courts, but raise your hand if you'd like to see a federal judge slap a preliminary injunction on any distribution of the Linux kernel until the mess is sorted out!
True? Nah, likely not. Would it work? Just possibly. We've all heard about Samba developers who treat MS code like a toddler running around with ebola milkshakes (cover eyes and run).
Quantum mechanics: the dreams that stuff is made of.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/021212/43/1z0mv.html
I think IBM realizes what's at stake here and is willing to put more $$ where it's mouth is. That's gotta piss Bill and Steve off.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
"6 hours? The minute this was announced, the source showed up in sidewalk kiosks in China."
Actually it was Linux with a Windows logo set as the wallpaper.
Looking into the source code might require signing a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that states that all financial damages which occur due to leaking the source can be reclaimed on the person who signed the NDA. It can't be that hard to hide some obscure hex value in a constant in some unimportant part of windows which can be traced to people who have access to the sources. Also, do you think MS would give it's source code to companies that are against MS?
Hate me!
Really, what would you want the code to Windows for? There are already bootleg binaries for those so inclined. The source code for all that bloat has to be reams and reams of bad hackery, worse patches, and blatant bandaids.
I suppose there would be the humor factor of being able to point out the lines that say,
// Leave commented out until appeals are over.
// remove( "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape.exe" );
Actually, it will be little harder than that. I've got access to the Windows source at work, and it's not like you just get the source tree as files. Access is through a special viewer that requires a smart card with the correct certificate to be inserted while viewing, and then only allows particular files to be viewed through a special GUI. You could copy and paste each file out of the GUI and build your own source tree, but since we're talking about hundreds of thousands of files and gigabytes of data it would probably take a little more than six hours. At least until they automated it.
Delivering militantly anti-commercial music to all two people who care!
There's nothing new about this about this. Microsoft has made source available (under an NDA) for years, probably always. Presumably the fact that there are now competing operating systems and applications that offer complete and routine access to source may push them to offer source more liberally but there's nothing new here.
All that's new is that journalists and readers now know what the words "source code" mean.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
and set by Linux. Whether MS likes it or not, and whoever acknowledges it or not, the effective price of a functioning OS, complete with bundled office suite, is now $0. The effective method of delivery is with full source code.
The genie is out of the bottle. MS is the follower.
MS is running a slow retreat. It will do so as slowly as it can, as seldom as it can.
That is why it's offering the code to India but fought the DoJ tooth and nail. The *Indian* government's interest in Linux is one that MS believes is serious. It does not yet take the American govenments *use* of Linux seriously. When it does the American *government* will get code, but just exactly that least amount of code that will "seal the deal."
Rinse and repeat.
This is always the case when a business is based on "secret knowledge." Once someone else learns the knowledge they undercut the orginal seller. Once the knowledge is ubiquitous the knowledge has no commercial value per se and the "price" of the knowledge becomes the price of the labor to impliment it.
So it has been. So it is. So it shall be.
Eventually Windows and MS Office will sell, together, for about $40, about the price of a boxed Red Hat distro, and come with a certain amount of user readable and modifiable code.
It's where the market is already, it's just going to take a bit of time for it to overcome it's inertia and readjust to the current state of affairs.
With MS kicking and screaming all the way.
Because of this Linux *will never win.* At least in the sense of being the one true OS that dominates the world. It will eventually have too much competition *at it's own level.*
But that will be because its *principles* carried the day.
Somewhere in its heart MS realizes this. This is why it's so willing to aggresively seek various means of forcing Windows usage. It's the only tactic it has left.
Which is a clear indication that the game is already lost.
KFG
This is what Microsoft constantly misses with their "shared source" and other programs - it's not merely being able to LOOK at the sources as if they were museum pieces on display that is worth anything. The power of open source is that you can build those sources and use the executables. If there are security holes in the software, having a pile of source that you can't build and run is completely useless - you can never know if what you have is the source for the product it claims or is a really complicated BIOS for your toaster oven. Auditing a complete unknown set of sources that claim to be something is something - but you have no buildable proof - would be a colossal mistake.
Want to know the punch line to all of this? Linux has reduced Microsoft into one of those little squeaky "Me too!"s that are little more than flame bait..
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QUICK! Reply to this email that you'll attach your OS sources and we'll send you all of the free image-upgrading pr0n you can handle!
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I am an Indian. I believe after a certain stage, there will be no stopping Linux (or *BSDs). The momentum for Linux is currently very weak, but is gathering speed every day. Why?
...)
- Sooner or later India will grow strong enough to challenge US. Then Windows will be viewed with the kind of suspicion that the Chinese/Europeans do now.
- It is simply not attractive (market size) for MS to "Indianize" Windows, the way we Indians can do to Linux (eg All Native Languages, etc)
- I already see a trend that very IT savvy Indians tend to dislike MS for various reasons (trustworthiness, price-gouging,
- Pride. With MS & its software, you can only do sweatshop style jobs. With Linux, we can turn our programmers into reputable contributors, recognised the world over.
Why has the Windows Source Code, arguably the most valuable piece of source code in history, never been leaked?
;-)
I'll give you some answers. I won't go into details of me personally, which you hopefully understand after reading this but here's the few personal things I _will_ say:
- I worked for M$
- I was not a developer
- I had full access to the source of a Windows version (it was not an NT/2K/XP variant, the source was available to everyone on the M$ network who knew where to find it)
- this was several years ago, things have changed, no doubt
Now, back to answering your question. First of all, some common sense answers:
- because it would be illegal?
- because they are not anti-M$?
- because it doesn't occur to them that it would be a 'good thing' to do?
I'll take your suggestions backwards:
Microsoft's security is just that good?
Obviously not.
People are too scared of Microsoft to do it, even with anonymizing technology?
Exactly, I think your question answered that already quite nicely when you said "arguably the most valuable piece of source code in history"
with all that in mind someone would consider:
- who would want to risk a reasonable career, for exactly what?
- who knows if my access to the source is watermarked?
- as someone suggested with the analogy of the Coke formula: is it really that unique that it's worth risking anything for? (believe me, it's not. In fact you CAN look at large pieces of M$ source, just go download a DDK)
Now, from what I have seen, there _is_ some evidence that could have helped the DOJ case regarding the non-competitive stuff with DR-DOS which can be found in the source.
This may have been a valid reason for someone to leak it, but the question is, would you trust the government or anyone enough to protect you so that you can continue the live that you want to have, after you did?
Or even more importantly, should the government be able to get and find this information by it's own, legal, resources?
I think it's a tough choice to risk an already way too short time as a productive developer to deal with lawsuits and what not.
Just a few thoughts
(I trust Rob to provide the "anonymizing technology")
#include ba_doom_ching.h
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
They have correct source code??
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
please, please, do NOT leak it.
The bugs could get corrected, which could lead to competition for Linux.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.