Open Source Code Finds Way into Microsoft Release

linumax tells us eWeek is reporting that Microsoft, for the first time, has included open source code in the release of one of their products. The Complete Cluster Edition of Windows Server 2003 will be including the Message Passing Interface (MPI) library. From the article: "MPI is key middleware that was designed by a consortia of all the supercomputing vendors in the 1990s to allow the easy portability of code. It abstracts away things like low-latency interconnect, and our focus is making it super easy for ISVs to move their code."

Comments

Open Invitation

[Doc Ruby]

Practically all MS source code is, of course, proprietary, closed, hidden, unknown to the public (and to most Microsofties). So who knows how much "open source code" has "found its way" into MS releases? We can say with more confidence that Microsoft has opened source included in this release, an unusual act for the proprietary giant. Of course, they got the tech, and probably much code, from the "1990s supercomputer consortium". So they might be obligated, "morally" if not legally, to release that source. Whatever's pushing them to open their code, I hope this works out for them, and therefore for us. So eventually "MSOSS" is not unfamiliar, but redundant.

Not the First

[bheer]

There was the NT 3.x TCP/IP stack, but that's less relevant because MS bought a 3rd party stack and bolted it to the OS (funny how /.-ers obsess about FTP.EXE when the whole darn stack was BSD-derived).

Then there was SFU, which actually shipped GNU tools, and MS even distributed source for the GNU tools they modified.

Right Hand/ Left Hand

[PAPPP]

I get the feeling Microsoft is a little schizophrenic about OSS whenever I see this sort of thing. Aside from the (frequently pointedout) inclusing of BSD networking components, Microsfot has a couple other dealings with the OSS community that didnt invovle bashing. One of the stranger things I've come across has to be Allegance, a MMO-like space sim that Microsoft Open Souced after it tanked commercially. Appaerntly people still play it.

BSD License

[saterdaies]

Microsoft has always said that it has no problem with the BSD license (which is what this code is under). They've even suggested it for people looking to develop open-source projects. It's not like the code got in there without their knowledge and now they're going to have to open source windows.

Hmm. . .formulates a plot.

One observation ...

[gstoddart]

Does the licence of the OSS software allow for distribution in this context?

If yes, then what is the big deal?

If no, then somsone needs to slap their pee-pee's.

Re:Nope, not the first time

[NetRAVEN5000]

Actually, I remember reading that ALL (or maybe it was most of?) Xbox games use Ogg. And I know for a FACT that the PC version of Halo uses Ogg - I remember looking through the files and seeing a bunch of .ogg files. I think they also said it somewhere with the copyright info.

I wonder what would've happened with the Xbox if Bungie had released Halo for PS2 like they originally planned?

Really for the first time?

[cortana]

I'm sure I remember a LUGRadio interview with someone from Xiph who said that DirectX (or was it Xbox Live, or both?) uses the Speex codec to compress voice data for in-game chat.

Oh, here we go: Halo 2 and Xbox Live use Ogg codecs.

Nothing new.

[Anonymous Coward]

It should be noted WMP10 uses the OGG libraries. OSS usage by MS is nothing new.

Re:first time?

[deafpluckin]

This is an urban legend which probably stems from Microsoft buying Hotmail (which was run entirely on FreeBSD) and the subsequent migration iterations. See this article from someone at Microsoft for explanation, assuming the article from kuro5hin is reliable :).

SOAP, X.500

[SumDog]

Microsoft has always embrased open standards. They "embrace and extend." They have DHCP servers...sure some old versions of Windows don't obtain DHCP leases correctly, but they've been patches and fixes here and there and everything seems to work.

ActiveDirectry is a standard X.500 protocol...with a couple of interesting extras which the Samba team is still trying to work with.

SOAP, well to be honest I never liked SOAP...or XML, but Microsoft uses it and it sorta works with other SOAP implementations...sorta. (I tried using a .NET client to communicate with nuSOAP for PHP about a year ago...worked fine unless you wanted to send an array).

The fact is with any open standard, you're gonna have problems with getting the implementations correct between ever device, OS and embedded that implements it. But back to the point, I RTFA and, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like they're just supporting another open standard like they've done so many times before. How is their support of MPI different than how they support SOAP via the .NET Framework?

SumDog

Re:Wait a minute

[AstroDrabb]

People have such a negative image of communism. I'll be the first to admit that in practice, it fails horribly due to human nature, but as a concept, it's great.

Uh, yeah, every one is equal is a _great_ concept. Why exactly should I spend 8 years in college and then another 2+ years as an intern to be a doctor to get paid the same as some bum who drops out of high school and flips burgers? Why should I spend 8 years in college to study physics to get paid the same as some lazy person who doesn't work and is on welfare? Why should I struggle to start my own business to only get paid the same as... oh wait... I can't own my own business, it is all owned by the "state".

Look at Russia. The nation went down hard because they couldn't compete with a free nation. They had a few smart people, but most of them were under threat to produce. Look at China. They don't even come close to the GDP of the USA. The only thing China has to offer is cheap labor. That cheap labor means that most of the Chinese workers are living in poor standards, especially compared to the USA and most of Europe. China will never be able to totally compete against the USA or the UK when it comes to technology because there is no motivation to excel in communism. People want to excel to get rewards.

I had to study to become a programmer. I have to keep studying to stay current as a programmer so that I have marketable skills. What would be my motivation to put in that work if I were only paid the same as the guy who picks up my trash cans? For me, there would be none.

Communism sucks, it doesn't work, it will never work.

hehehe... this isnt the first time

[Anonymous Coward]

Believe me.. THIS IS NOT the first time open source code has made its way into M$ products. I worked with one of the primary developers of an open source packet scrubber (I won't name the actual packet scrubber, as he would like to remain anonymous). The developer stumbled accross a decent size chunk of his code in the windowsXP SP2 firewall.

So, no this isn't the first time. Its the just the first time they have made it public knowledge.

Re:zlib is open source.

[mrchaotica]

So can any public domain software.

Not really. In 100 years or so, the copyright may start to expire on some proprietary software. At that point it'll be public domain, but will still be closed-source because only the binary will be available.

Incidentally, this is why all software should be open source (but not necessarily Free): because the point of copyright is so that the public can make derivative works, which can't happen without the source code.

Re:TCP/IP stack

[nacturation]

So it's not an example of stealing code under the BSD license.

No, but this is such an example.