Microsoft Proposes Cooperative Research With OSDL

turnitover writes "According to eWEEK.com, Microsoft has proposed to work with OSDL for a 'facts-based analysis of Linux and Windows.' Could this just be a case of the fox contracting security for the hen house?" Martin Taylor, Microsoft's general manager of platform strategy, declined to comment on the specifics of what was discussed when he met with OSDL's CEO Stuart Cohen, only to say that they met.

Comments

java?

[Janitha]

Would microsoft support OSDL the same way they supported java?

Re:java?

[jkrise]

Seeing that most OSDL projects are licensed under the GPL unlike Java, MS can't embrace, extend and extinguish OSDL projects.

Secondly, this is not about co-operation, it is about 'research' or 'study' or whatever else you call it. Looks like MS wants the OSDL to endorse an opinion about the Windows Server OS - so they can FUD the market with something like : "The OSDL, of which Linus Torvalds is a member, has admitted that the Windows Server Operating System has been found to deliver superior performance and TCO in 326 out of 1,028 customer situations... including Clippy, DRM, Windows Media Player, the registry, MSN messenger ...."

That's no moon!

[dotslashdot]

Microsoft might be genuinely interested in learning from GNU/Linux since they obviously need all the help they can get. I was reading that Longhorn will finally have GNU/Unix-like user permissions. Besides, it makes sense from a strategic point. What's the Sun Tzu saying? "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer." Perhaps Microsoft will lure away all of the OSDL developers (aka Mono & the head of Gentoo) with money for starving developers to take the wind out of Linux. Just tractor beam in all of the major talent and learn from the "enemy."

Fun

[Anonymous Coward]

In the meantime, you can look back at the last 25 years of computer history and view the landscape full of the broken, rotting carcasses of everyone, from PDA manufacturers to OS/2, who ever "collaborated" with Microsoft and thought it would result in something other than betrayal followed by their complete and utter destruction.

Hey, Microsoft wants to "collaborate" with open source? Maybe they could never mind the PR movements and "research", and just fucking document their formats and protocols so that open source software isn't left a second-class, reverse-engineered citizen in the world full of computers Microsoft owns.

Re:Fun

[10Ghz]

In the meantime, you can look back at the last 25 years of computer history and view the landscape full of the broken, rotting carcasses of everyone, from PDA manufacturers to OS/2, who ever "collaborated" with Microsoft and thought it would result in something other than betrayal followed by their complete and utter destruction.

Exactly. I wish that the people involved will remember what you wrote. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Microsoft is not to be trusted. Maybe, MAYBE after they have had a complete change of leadership (starting from Ballmer, Gates and the board of directors, followed by heads of divisions) and complete change in operating philosophy. Maybe then they can slowly start to regain the trust they have lost over the years. But as things are right now, MS has screwed competitors and potential competitors over and over again. And Linux is a competitor. Why eaxctly would MS NOT screw Linux over, if they had the chance?

MS does not want to "cooperate" with OSDL because they want to help Linux or open source. They want to do it because they feel that they have something to gain. And in this case, it would most certainly involve harming Linux and open source.

I repeat: Microsoft is not to be trusted.