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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."

13 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Has Microsoft ever done ANYTHING that /. has approved of?

    I sure if MS released the source code to Windows 2003 under the GPL tomorrow /. would find some nefarious plot behind that too.

    -Cecil

    1. Re:Microsoft by Curtman · · Score: 1, Interesting
      If all of /. unanimously was in favour of anything at all whatsoever, I would be shocked and amazed. Seems you can't even have a good MS bashing without some fool spouting off about zealotry.

      I'm not even so sure being a zealot is necessarily a bad thing.

      • zealot \Zeal"ot\, n. [F. z['e]lote, L. zelotes, Gr. ?. See Zeal.] One who is zealous; one who engages warmly in any cause, and pursues his object with earnestness and ardor; especially, one who is overzealous, or carried away by his zeal; one absorbed in devotion to anything; an enthusiast; a fanatical partisan.


      The world needs fanatics, and any successful movement is bound to have a few.
  2. XML based MSI by sweet+cunny+muffin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For anyone wondering, this is basically an XML wrapper for the MSI.

    MSI files are binary databases that you had to edit with a nasty tool called oracle. The whole thing was counter intuitive. I could never understand why the MSI wasn't XML based from the start. It was written when MS was XML mad, after all.

    This is brilliant. You can now work with a text source file format for the MSI.

  3. Interesting Interview by Slugworth01 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Based on the interview, Rob seems like a typical developer. Answers to questions are short and sweet, no marketing buzzwords. Does seem to have a lot of M$ religion though.

    This is being handled by M$ in a most interesting way; most likely all be design. This is not (IMHO) a project that escaped from Redmond, they have a plan in mind. The question is - is this a "hip fake" to the OSS community to fool everyone while they finalize their master plan of world domination of all computers everywhere, or is it an example of M$ recognizing the value of OSS and using it when it makes sense?

    1. Re:Interesting Interview by shione · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I like that guys edge too, most notably at the part where he said "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."

      and then "As the project administrator of the Windows Installer XML project, I consider it my primary responsibility to build a community focused improving the Windows Installer XML toolset. To create that community, the members must first trust that the project is going to continue. If someone doesn't yet trust that the Windows Installer XML project is going to continue but is still interested, then I would suggest he or she wait and watch. I've found the only way to build someone's trust is to continually demonstrate your good intentions and apologize for any mistakes you might make along the way.
      "

      Good to see he has a lot of confidence in OS. :)

  4. Re:Ahaaa a M$ renegade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    You really are naive if you think his bosses at Microsoft weren't behind this whole thing.

    1) Release your stuff under an almost, but not quite Free license.

    2) Be able to say 'look we are so cool and open source', but without actually giving anything important away.

    3) Profit.

  5. Re:German by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    hehe Its not like the first time they've done this too. It was a smart move of microsoft to name their console after a symbol the japanese consider bad luck.

  6. Re:Why can't windows have decent package managemen by CdBee · · Score: 2, Interesting

    MSI installation on windows is a huge step up from the old setup.exe situation, but it isn't that often used.

    I guess you're thinking in terms of home software and games then. The PCs I set up for our office network have very few apps that aren't MSI-based... AV, Office, accounting software, image editor, PCAnywhere all use the Windows Installer.

    The only real problem with MSI is when a PC crashes during an install and after reboot you can't use the installer because it believes it's already doing an installation. Not a common problem but I've seen it happen.

    --
    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  7. Re:German by Hank+Powers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The same applies to Google's Orkut service. Orkut is the Finnish for "orgasms".

    --
    hapo
  8. Open ? Ohh yeah Major U turn ... NOT by Retep+Vosnul · · Score: 1, Interesting

    "They listened to my requirements and found that the CPL seemed most appropriate for the toolset."

    So you needed a license model that does NOT allow sharing between REAL open licenses but looks open enough. Combined with the trivial piece of code attachted to it make up out of probable completely generic pieces of code ) that will let you sue the pants of the OSS community in a couple of years ????

    Reminds me of those nice war scams where model villages are set up to show the UN that there are no numan rights violations at all.
    " you see sir ? Everybody is treated well and you can see it ! , are we not good ???"

    --
    -- forget /. It's gone.
  9. Re:One question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    1. IBM isn't a monopoly (anymore).

    2. IBM's backing of open source isn't just a token gesture, they are fully behind it, from the chips to the software.

  10. #Develop deployment GUI potential by BillsPetMonkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I write in C#. Yes I confess. It's a highly productive language, and implements a lot of what Java didn't (e.g. foreach, Enums). I release under GPL, which means I can't use VS.NET because the license explicitly forbids it.

    So I use #Develop and more recently Mono Develop. Problem is, unlike VS.NET there's no package deployment option to speak of (unless you write your own).

    This project means that scripts can be generated from the GUI and then compiled using the C# candle tool provided in WiX. Enabling C# packages to be deployed on GPL.

    --
    "It's not your information. It's information about you" - John Ford, Vice President, Equifax
  11. Re:Why can't windows have decent package managemen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Hmm... making an MSI isn't that bad. Most larger corporations probably have something like MS-SMS, ECM, etc., or even some scripting written for domain controller login scripts.

    SMS and ECM can certainly be used to "push" new applications and uninstall old ones on network clients... So can a simple VBScript (using TqcRunas.dll...). I know, because I wrote one that pushed an IE5/6 security patch on about 1000 desktops via the domain login script...