Microsoft Receives Open Source VIP Blessing

* * Beatles-Beatles writes to let us know that Larry Rosen has given his blessing to the new terms that Microsoft is Making their Office XML Reference Schema available under. Rosen, "the attorney that wrote the book on open source licensing and the man who was the Open Source Initiative's first general counsel and secretary," described this move as the "most significant olive branch to date" to come from the Redmond software giant.

Comments

Is this really open source ?

[axonis]

Isn't this really just a standards specification for the office file format in XML and thus has nothing to do with open source since Microsoft is not providing any code ?

Let's wait for the licence of patents

[eleknader]

Yes, the format will be open.

What Microsoft is likely to do is:
- add own extentions and not release them
- forbid relicencing of patents so that no implementation can be released under LGPL / GPL

IMHO this is just a trick. MS wants everybody to wait for 18 months before this is really released, and prevent Open Source competition with patent licence restrictions.

We'll see this after two years, I hope I'm wrong but if this happends, I'll come back and say:

See, I told you so! :)

Eleknader

Re:Isn't XML readable anyways?

[Alphix]

XML is just a language, you can make the documents as incomprehensible as you want....

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<legalnote>
        <warning>This document scheme is patented, copyright protected and trademarked</warning>
        <uspto>US1234567</uspto>
</legalnote>

<blob type="binary" encryption="proprietary 40-bit">
        <key type="public" enc="hex">
                e5e9fa1ba31ecd1ae84f75caaa474f3a663f05f4
                bd30361aa855686bde0eacd7162fef6a25fe97bf
        </key>
        <data enc="hex">
                2bb80d537b1da3e38bd30361aa855686bde0eacd
                7162fef6a25fe97bf527a25bb1da3e38bd30361a
        </data>
</blob>

<blob type="image" codec="proprietary">
        <data enc="hex">
                30361aa855686bde0eacd7162fef6a25fe97bf527a25b
                2bb80d537b1da3e38bd30361aa855686bde0eacd30361
        </data>
</blob>

Still Does Not Meet MA's Definition Of Open

[codepunk]

This still does not meet MA's Defininition of a Open Format. Anyone listening to the hearings knows that MA's definition of a Open Format includes the ability of mulitple vendors to have equal input to the format specification. MS soley controls the MS XML format therefore it does not meet the MA qualification as a Open Format.

Now of course I fully expect crooked politics and money to fix that little loop hole.