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WiX Project Lead Interviewed On CPL Licensing

Posted by simoniker on from the give-it-away-now dept.

comforteagle writes "After Microsoft released WiX (Windows Installer XML) under the CPL I found it odd that so many interviews following were with almost everyone but the project lead. So, for your Friday enjoyment I've posted an interview with Rob Mensching, Wix Project lead, who sheds a little light on what's going on behind the scenes at the Shared Source Initiative from the ground." Mensching explains: "My bosses were not involved in the decision which license should be used for the Windows Installer XML toolset. I worked with members of the Shared Source Initiative team who understand the details of the various licenses available to share source code. They listened to my requirements and found that the CPL seemed most appropriate for the toolset."

5 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Re:German by mocm · · Score: 5, Informative

    "wichsen" (sounds like vixen) means to polish, but is usually assotiated with polishing a certain body part. Wichs (or Wix) would be the noun.

    --
    ***Quis custodiet ipsos custodes***
  2. Other Microsoft Shared Source Licensing Programs by crem_d_genes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Mensching: "I am not well versed in all of the licenses used by the Shared Source Initiative. As I described above, I went to the Shared Source Initiative team with the goals of my project and we agreed that the CPL was an appropriate license for the Windows Installer XML toolset."

    Other types of shared source license programs at Microsoft, and further links in the Shared Source Initiative.

  3. Not oracle by News+for+nerds · · Score: 4, Informative

    but Orca

  4. Tons of Free code at M$ by troop23 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know most /.'s will find this hard to believe but M$ has always provided a huge amount of source code in an open source fashion. Just visit MSDN and you'll see of examples of free sample code. Then go to the code center where you can find tons of free demonstration applications that you can use to build your own app. For example the company I work for has used User Interface Process Application Block for .NET and Exception Management Application Block for .NET from their patterns and practices site to form the basis of an Enterprise scale business application. Of course the code is generally sample applications for Business purposes. But code like this has been available from M$ since before the internet boom.

  5. Re:Open ? Ohh yeah Major U turn ... NOT by JohnQPublic · · Score: 4, Informative

    So you needed a license model that does NOT allow sharing between REAL open licenses but looks open enough.

    The Open Source Initiative thinks the CPL is "open". It allows derivitive works, grants no-royalty patent licenses to recipients (although only specifically for the program they receive), and allows source redistribution. It doesn't require source redistribution, but then neither do several other "open" licenses.

    So what's the problem?