Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Opens Code Just Slightly More

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the if-you're-a-king-you-can-see-part-of-it dept.

ctar writes "This story on Bloomberg.com details Microsoft's new program to open the source to parts of Windows in order to compete with Linux, especially in the government sector. Microsoft's spokesman is making these announcements directly: They say governments involved will be invited to Redmond to meet w/ security engineers, and view testing procedures. Countries will also be able to incorporate their own encryption schemes 'based on Microsoft's software'."

16 of 317 comments (clear)

  1. One Question by The_Shadows · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why does the government need the source? I mean seriously, it's not like knowing how MS wrote their version of solitaire is going to help much.....

    Sheesh. :)

    1. Re:One Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      I know your comment was meant to be funny, but as a government employee I have to say that I'd like to see the source of sol.exe (Solitare). I think it's coded in a way that you CANNOT win twice in a row. And it seems to degrade as you play it more without stopping.

      I just want to know if this was on purpose or if the Windows may have started to not only develop intelligence but decide to gang up with my boss against me.

  2. Everyones invited by batboy78 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Please oh please lets get all foreign gov'ts to give there encryption keys to microsoft. Then they will truly run the world.

  3. Re:Not like it matters anyhow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You: Me neighbor just got married to a hot babe."
    Your friend: "Does he let you....."
    You: "Hell yeah. He thinks GPL is great!"

  4. And during those visits to Redmond... by djupedal · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...anyone drinking the water that is placed on the tables in the conference rooms should know that it will take 9 to 12 months for the effects of the spiking to wear off :)

    By that time, contracts will have been signed and monies moved about according to MS's will.

  5. Re:Linux is a bargaining chip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    that's an interesting point... i'd really like to see the government outsmart microsoft. that will end the age-old argument of who has less intelligence...

  6. Snazzy by houseofmore · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Countries will also be able to incorporate their own encryption schemes 'based on Microsoft's software'."

    I'm sure governments around the world will breath a sigh of relief once their networks have been secured by MS Wallet(tm).

  7. Re:Microsoft is missing an entire dimension... by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 5, Funny

    M$ seems to not understand that viewing the source is only one third of the Open Source equation. The other half is being able to modify the code, and distribute those modifications.

    Judging by your math, I'm going to say you are related to Yogi Berra somehow. ;)

    (For the humor impaired, yes I realized what he intended to say.)

  8. Re:Microsoft is missing an entire dimension... by seanadams.com · · Score: 2, Funny

    viewing the source is only one third of the Open Source equation. The other half is being able to modify the code, and distribute those modifications.

    I think you left out 1/6th....

  9. Reminds me of a joke by stox · · Score: 5, Funny

    We used to have at Bell Labs in the late 1980's. If we ever wanted to put one of our competitors out of business, we would send them a copy of the 5ESS source code. They would go bankrupt trying to analyze it.

    --
    "To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
  10. RE: Your .sig by Zordak · · Score: 5, Funny
    OT, but your .sig made me think of something that occurred to me recently. It was stupid of Darth Sidious to clone an obviously incompetent adult to make Storm Troopers and them arm them with blasters they were ill-equipped to handle. As the parent of a 2 year old, I posit that a massive army of toddlers armed with Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Pancake Syrup and Magic Markers would be a force that would rival Nature herself in pure destructive power. It would have taken this terrible, unholy army approximately ten minutes to dismantle the entire fleet of ships that Storm Troopers were trying to blast apart in AoTC. Most of the ships, operating under crippled, gummed-up guidance systems that have been reprogrammed to point to the nearest black hole, with controls that stick in all the wrong places, and terminals impossible to read for all of the random black markings, would simply crash into each other, with the captains of said ships welcoming the sweet deliverance of death. The rest would get hopelessly lost in the depths of space, and by the time anyone found them, the crews would be incurably mad.

    In case you are wondering, yes, having a two year old is occasionally associated with sleep deprivation. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Microsoft bashing.

    --

    Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
  11. Re:im surprised.. by Entropy248 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh yeah. I would definately leak the source code for Windows if I used to work for Micro$oft. That's just the kind of thing I want to do. Annoy the richest guy on earth who just happens to sell software that's running on the majority of desktop/laptop computers on the planet earth. I cannot even begin to imagine the Easter Eggs, hidden registry keys, and other jokes at my expense would be included into the source code! Hell, if I was Bill, I wouldn't even prosecute the guy, I would just haunt him on the majority of desktops for the rest of his life! Using Windows Update as a form of revenge would be the ultimate payback. The next patch could have your name on it. I would hire legions of detectives and investigators to search the Internet for any reference to my name and order programmers to include personalized glitches and other nasty surprises in my operating system. Crush all resistance! Sometimes, I wonder if that's what Gate has done and that's why Windows crashes all the time. Not that I blame him for it though... It was a really, really good idea. I like it a lot and completely respect him for it.

    --
    Webmaster Wanted - Entropic Reactions
  12. Don't Blame Solitaire! by Puu · · Score: 4, Funny

    And it seems to degrade as you play it more without stopping.

    Why, it's not just Solitaire. The entire Windows is coded that way.

  13. Scary... by FrostedWheat · · Score: 2, Funny

    They say governments involved will be invited to Redmond to meet w/ security engineers, and view testing procedures.

    If this had been a James Bond movie ... the goverment representatives would then be cloned! The originals held in a cage above a pool with sharks! (Maybe even with lazers!).

    The clones would then go back to there governments and praise MS! Thankfully for us, we have James Bond to protect us!

    ....

  14. Re:Something to Think About by jejones · · Score: 3, Funny

    The developers are not to blame, we just did our jobs...

    Mustn't...invoke...Godwin's...law...

  15. Propoganda by Doomrat · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, all of this anti-Linux propaganda that Microsoft were printing as advertisements in German magazines (as far as I remember) which stated that Linux was dangerous and insecure due to open source... ...Microsoft is going to pretend that they never said any of that? Obviously opening part of their sources to certain bodies isn't the same as true open source, but clearly they're beginning to encourage that sort of thing a little more from now on. Maybe Bill Gates shouldn't spend so much time shitting on a rock that he's about to sit on.