Microsoft Reduces Shared Source Licenses

UltimaGuy writes to tell us eWeek is reporting that Microsoft will be reducing the number of licenses that it will use for its Shared Source Initiative. Instead of more than 10 different licenses they are aiming for just three core licenses. The first license format, Ms-PL (Microsoft Permissive License), is similar to the BSD license while the second, Ms-CL (Microsoft Community License), is based on the Mozilla Public License. The third format, Ms-RL (Microsoft Reference License), "has no open-source alternative and is a reference-only license that allows licensees to view source code in order to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of Microsoft technology."

Comments

Yes, that's it

[alfrin]

Let's take every chance we have to attempt and /. Microsoft's servers..

Of course...

[metamatic]

...most Microsoft products will continue to be distributed under the MSBOL, the Microsoft Bend Over License.

Re:DHCP Lease renewal fail's again

[Anonymous Coward]

A tech support question on slashdot...

I mean, asking a tech support question on /. is like sleeping with a dirty whore. Yeah, you may feel better once you've done it, but you really have no idea what you're gonna walk away with. All you know for certain is, you're probably gonna get screwed.

Three New Licenses in Brief

[HairyNips(*)(*)]

Depending upon which source code you see:

1) You are Bill Gates' bitch forever.
2) You are Steve Ballmer's bitch forever.
3) You are Steve Ballmer's bitch forever and you have to watch him do the monkey dance.

MS makes alot of things similar

[Deternal]

"is similar to the BSD license while the second, Ms-CL (Microsoft Community License), is based on the Mozilla Public License"

Yes, just like MS Html is similar to html, MS .NET is similar to Java, MS Active Directory is similar to Novell Directory except not really ldap compliant, MS Java is similar to java etc.

About time they started making similar licenses too :)

I get it!

[Sheepdot]

What it says:
Microsoft Reference License (Ms-RL) -- The Ms-RL is a reference-only license that allows licensees to view source code in order to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of a Microsoft technology. It does not allow for modification or redistribution. This license is used primarily for technologies such as development libraries.

What it means:
Microsoft Reference License (Ms-RL) -- The Ms-RL is an open invitation to a future lawsuit. You get to look at our code, and we get to sue your ass when you create something that does a similar function. Since we will have proof of who has viewed our code from user registrations, we'll start scanning open source community websites for names of those users here in a few years. If you can't pay us, it's okay, we'll just take over your project for you.

No open-source alternative

[Citizen of Earth]

Ms-RL (Microsoft Reference License), "has no open-source alternative and is a reference-only license"

However, it does have a strip-club alternative of "look but don't touch".

Re:Mixed feelings

[MobyDisk]

This is absolutely great for Microsoft shops who use the Windows API and related technologies. So often things don't work as intended, and you need to pay big $$$ to have MS debug it for you. And they aren't usually willing or capable. At my last job, you had to be stuck for at least 1 week and have had a review of the problem by the senior architect before you could call Microsoft -- it was that expensive. Often times a fails and you don't know why. Having the source code can help so much.

Your code:

/* Why does this always return -1, when the docs say
  it returns either 0 or a positive number? */
LONG result = ObscureAPICall(null, "Some string");

Microsoft code:

void ObscureAPICall(void *p, LPCTSTR)
{
/* TODO: Implement version that works with NULL value for p */
  if (!p)
      return -1;
.
.
.
}

Ooooooooooh, THATS why!!!

Latest News

[njvic]

In news just to hand, a further Microsoft meeting has determined that the new licenses will collectively be known as Revised Microsoft Licenses, or RMS Licenses for short...