Microsoft's New Core OS Team Learning from Linux

sokk writes "Seems like Microsoft is paying attention to the Linux way of doing things. According to itworld.com, a new central engineering division will work on the core of Windows: "The Windows Core Operating System Division (COSD), within the company's Platforms Group, will be responsible for the core OS platform, including development, program management and testing, Microsoft said in a statement sent via e-mail.". A little further down the page analyst Rob Enderle: "They have been studying Linux extensively. Part of their study has been on how Linux has been able to maintain a high level of consistency in the kernel while groups around it maintain maximum flexibility,". "

Comments

Re:Makes you wonder....

[brain159]

No No NO. Did you not read the Groklaw article yesterday or thereabouts pointing out that this scenario is not true?

The penalty for abusing GPLd code is not the compulsory re-licensing of everything. If you're in breach of the terms of the GPL license, then you're breaking copyright law. Nothing makes their proprietary code suddenly open, unless they decide to comply with the GPL rather than fight/settle/re-code.

Re:Only a matter of time

[Theatetus]

They already do shared source for their "partners". I got to see some Windows code when I was trying (and eventually failing) to write a driver.

And don't forget that you can see the source code of Windows CE if you want to.