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Microsoft To Share Office Source Code

I_Love_Pocky! writes "According to this article, Microsoft is going to give its source code for Office 2003 to more than 30 different world governments. The purpose? So they can inspect the code for security flaws."

25 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. World governments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I didn't realize there was even one world government. I have no idea how they could manage 30 with overlapping jurisdictions... ;)

    1. Re:World governments by Mr2cents · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's why scientists are working so hard on string theories etc.. The plan is to give those new dimentions to the redundant governments and keep them all happy, and then return to daily life.

      --
      "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
    2. Re:World governments by johannesg · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually the whole Iraq-thing is just a big inter-office dispute...

    3. Re:World governments by tonywong · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well...Microsoft did publish "Rise of Nations."

      Perhaps Bill was playing a little too much of it.

  2. more than 30 different world governements by Bromrrrrr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Will the real world governement please stand up!

    --

    What a rotten party, have we run out of beer or something?
  3. Spell Check for /. by WillRobinson · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe Rob could build this into the core of /. as a spell checker.

    1. Re:Spell Check for /. by peragrin · · Score: 3, Funny

      What and ruin /. by teaching these kids how to spell???

      If they do anything why don't they just update slashcode to be w3c complaint.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re:Spell Check for /. by Phleg · · Score: 2, Funny

      complaint

      Without fail, whenever you make a comment on someone's spelling/grammar, you make a mistake yourself. Nice law of physics there.

      --
      No comment.
  4. Is the govt. of Slashdotia included ? by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because then we too can have the benefit of a world class spell checker

    "30 different world governements"

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
  5. In related news... by dpoulson · · Score: 3, Funny

    Programmers in 30 countries all seem overcome by fits of laughter.

    --
    http://www.22balmoralroad.net/ http://www.tinynetworks.co.uk/
  6. Clippy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    clippy() {
    if (disabled == true) {<br/>
    disabled = false;<br/>
    annoying_interrupt();<br/>
    random_cr ashes();
    }
  7. Sounds more like a nefarious Microsoft plan: by MurrayTodd · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. We give source code for Office 2003 to more than 30 world governments.
    2. They show their brightest computer programmers this code.
    3. Trying to comprehend the source (written in typical Microsoft Quality) the programmers' heads implode, causing death within 2 hours.
    4. With all the programming talent taken care of, we get all the world governments to outsource their internal I.T. operations to us.
    5. We take over the world!

    --
    Murray Todd Williams
    1. Re:Sounds more like a nefarious Microsoft plan: by stupid_is · · Score: 2, Funny

      you forgot:
      ...
      6. Profit!

      --
      -- Intelligence is soluble in alcohol
  8. Re:Interesting by cermanius · · Score: 1, Funny

    Then I wonder how long after that happens that M.S. starts whining like a baby and takes all the code away from everyone.

    --
    "Don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff." -- by an Unknown Wise man.
  9. Re:lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny
    So far we've got:

    Checking the code will waste taxpayer money.

    It's only to going 30 governments.

    It's so complicated they'll be afraid to change anything.

    It's so complicated they'll be unable to understand it.

    OpenOffice has been giving their code away forever.

    This won't include all the code.

    They won't release any of the code.

    This is just a ploy to get these governments to switch to MS products.

    MS is getting the governments to bug check their code for free!

  10. Re:Interesting by SirGeek · · Score: 1, Funny
    Interesting . . . wonder how long it will take to leak out of one of these offices and wind up on file sharing sites?

    Just wait for it to get to Los Alimos, it will dissapear from them quickley enough...

  11. Re:I'm wondering... by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Funny

    >> explain that their WC++ might not always produce

    Wisual C++? Great for Russia but what about everyone else?

  12. Re:Interesting by AstroDrabb · · Score: 3, Funny
    If it's anything like the windows code that got leaked, it will be watermarked
    Huh? Where did you get that from? Exactly how does one watermark a plain text file?
    #include "windows.h"
    int main(void)
    {
    RunWinders();
    return 0;
    }
    /* this is the MS WaterMark (tm), do not remove */
    --
    If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
    it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
  13. Re:I'm wondering... by geordie_loz · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here in the UK, WC used to stand for "Water Closet", also known as the toilet.

    Are you saying that their compiler is 1 better than a crapper?

  14. Re:I'm wondering... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    No, one better than a crapper after you've used it. ;-)

  15. Re:I'm wondering... by FauxPasIII · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Yeah, great joke... other than that you're stupid and obviously unaware that there is no 'w' sound in Russian.

    Then vere do you keep your nuclear wessels ?

    --
    25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
  16. Re:DIE $MICROSOFT DIE!! by samvo · · Score: 4, Funny


    The Demise of Microsoft

    In the long saga of the battle between the world and its detested adversary,
    the Microsoft corporation, everybody is dying to see how the movie end.
    Everybody also knows that in the movie the antagonist always dies at the end,
    but the question is how? To most who detest Microsoft vehemently they would
    like to see a quick and horrid death and those who detest even more so would
    only find a sadistic pleasure in seeing nothing less than having Microsoft being
    slowly skinned alive on a burning stake.

    An IT Fairy Tale

    Once upon the time, there was a computer software company named Microsoft,
    whose craftiness in marketing made it become one of the most popular software company
    on the planet. However, once that company attained its dominant position
    in the marketplace, greed and fear filled the unsettled soul of Microsoft.
    The company then aggressively pursued and eliminated almost all of its contenders,
    names that once were legends one by one fell to Microsoft's sword, WordPerfect,
    Borland, Novell, Netscape, Corel and more. Soon, people saw Microsoft for what
    it was, a cunning roguish company that had no conscience to stop itself doing whatever
    it needs to achieve its ambitions. All the other software companies
    realized that there will be no end to Microsoft's unquenchable thirst for power but
    none dared to challenge Microsoft until one day a young knight developed an operating
    system called Linux. Linux came with a license called Open Source, which represented
    to all the other companies a platform from which they can rally together in a
    silent treaty to overthrow the software tyrant. One day, Microsoft woke up
    and saw a huge army amassed upon the hills, companies that once were shot, wounded,
    cheated and humiliated now all carry the same banner, the flag of Linux. Amongst
    the valiant warriors, were IBM, Novell, Sun, Oracle, Sony, Fujitsu, Red Hat and CA and
    amongst the catapults and shields they used were forged from the power of Open Source,
    Apache, OpenOffice, Mozilla, PosgreSQL, MySql, Python, PHP, Samba and much
    more. What Microsoft saw shook its heart, however its power to control the market
    is still immense and with 56 billion dollars in the vault, its going to put up a very
    good fight. This is the year 2004 and the battle has just begun.

    The Crystal Ball

    So my young seer, you wish to see how this battle unfold? First, you have to understand
    how unlike previous battles where the companies were easily and ruthlessly cut down
    by Microsoft, this time the catapults and shields that the Allies formed from Open Source
    were impenetrable, in fact, the more Microsoft attacked the slowly advancing catapults and shields,
    the stronger the catapults and shields became. How can that be? The magic of Open Source.
    All artifacts created from Open Source do not obey the laws of the jungle, first of all
    artifacts are immortalized by having the source code freely distributed across the
    earth, as Microsoft attacks one point more heads would sprout from different places.
    Another power of Open Source is leverage, in the old times when a developer was to
    write a software, he practically has to write most of the libraries himself/herself or
    purchase or license expensive code sets from other companies like Microsoft. Nowadays,
    these libraries are all available freely from Open Source, graphics libraries,
    network libraries, XML libraries, parsers, compilers, were all there for all to share.
    This is the leverage that hasn't been available to developers before, now all the
    Davids have slingshots.

    Rebellion of the Serfs

    Back to that same once ancient period, almost all developers lived under the direction and
    command of Microsoft. Their blind obedience contributed immensely to
    the growth of Microsoft. They created applications of all sorts of shapes
    and sizes which made the Microsoft platform very popular. All these times

  17. Re:Its a total con by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Yep your now Bills

    My bills are what? Oh, you're now Bills. Looks like you've already read the microsoft source code and your brain is collapsing.

  18. Re:I'm wondering... by ESqVIP · · Score: 2, Funny

    More like an object-oriented toilet.

  19. Re:I'm wondering... by bubkus_jones · · Score: 2, Funny

    Star Trek IV: The _VOYAGE_ Home
    You, are not a geek.