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Mozilla Developers Invited to Redmond

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the dinosaurs-in-wa dept.

savio13 writes "Sam Ramji, Microsoft's director of its Open Source Software Lab has invited 4 Mozilla developers to spend 4 days with Microsoft's Vista Readiness ISV team. The invite can be found on mozilla.dev.planning and was posted on Saturday (Aug. 19). Schroepfer replied by indicating that Microsoft and the Moz guys are already in contact via email and will follow up on the offer there. This is interesting because Sam posted the offer in a public forum (and indicated that he'd sent a PM, but was posting in case they had an @microsoft.com email filter). Sam also made a point of stating that the Vista ISV Readiness offer is typically only for commercial ISVs."

17 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. I think it is interesting by Enselic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hopefully this invitation is simply a consequence of that Microsoft has (finally) realized that there is no way they will be able to keep up with OSS in the long run. Maybe they have finally realized that sooner or later, given enough time, every commercial application will have a free counterpart.

  2. Sun Tzu by quakeroatz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" (c. 6th century BC)

  3. Vista modularity? by stites · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If Vista is written modularly and has a clean, well documented API then why would an application development team need any help from the Vista development team to get their application working on Vista?

    --------------------
    Steve Stites

  4. if it is a trap by atarione · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it is the kinda trap were they offer to give you butt loads of money to come work for them instead.

    --
    actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
  5. Gecko based IExplorer? by vhogemann · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What if they're thinking anbout replacing the IE render engine with Geko + ActiveX extensions?

    It's not an insane idea, a browser it's not a key factor for desktop dominance anymore... and MS could use the resources allocated for IE on another projects.

    And also, they eliminate the "Firefox" treat... Firefox is avaliable for MacOSX, Linux, BSD, and others. If someone uses it under Windows, they can feel more confortable to swich to another OS since their applications are there too.

    --
    ---- You know how some doctors have the Messiah complex - they need to save the world? You've got the "Rubik's" complex
    1. Re:Gecko based IExplorer? by nuzak · · Score: 5, Interesting

      > What if they're thinking anbout replacing the IE render engine with Geko + ActiveX extensions?

      Absolutely never ever ever going to happen. Even discounting the IE features that MS wants to keep, even discounting NIH syndrome, Microsoft owns the IE codebase (modulo a few patent trolls). Microsoft doesn't want to put anything in Windows that it can't alter at will. Yes Gecko's open source, but they don't exactly want to fork it and deal with the developer relations donnybrook that would ensue.

      As for ActiveX, MS had already removed almost every AX control from its site, leaving only various update managers. And the Eolas debacle has pretty much tilted them all the way toward going 100% DHTML/AJAX for rich content. Underneath, it's still COM controls, sure -- Flash and even the Java "plugin" are actually ActiveX controls -- but anyone still beating on the ActiveX drum is showing they have no imagination with which to update their repertoire of trolling.

      Firefox is big and important enough now that some folks at Microsoft want more familiarity, including making sure it doesn't break on Vista, because depending on how it breaks, it can make Vista appear broken itself (or yes, reveal where it actually is broken). The speculation you're reading about "traps" is just the usual grist for the Two-Minute Hate around here.

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    2. Re:Gecko based IExplorer? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "... anyone still beating on the ActiveX drum is showing they have no imagination with which to update their repertoire of trolling."

      Sorry, but you are quite wrong, either intentionally or by just not thinking this through. You are using one narrow example (microsoft.com's current site practices) and somehow drawing the conclusion that ActiveX is no longer a concern internet-wide. This is totally incorrect.

      Here's a quick example. We have a small, (unfortunately) somewhat autonomous group of people here that insist on using Microsoft's products Movie Maker and Producer to push out video of a colloquium that occurs every few weeks during the school year. The web page they end up with makes massive use of ActiveX - which of course means not only that it's IE+Windows only (yes, it claims not to be but it only works on IE+Windows), but also that anyone who uses IE with Active X turned off (e.g. all XP SP2 users) are badgered with popup after popup asking "Do you want to enable scripting?" Eventually many of these folks get tired of the popups and just turn scripting on across the board so they can watch the d*mn video.

      If you've read the IT trade press at all, you'll be familiar with interview after interview where CIOs have said "We'd love to move to Firefox, but we've got too much invested in intranet/extranet systems based on ActiveX technology".

      ActiveX will continue to be an issue until Microsoft stops selling tools that generate ActiveX-based code and end-products.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  6. That's It for Mozilla Then... by eno2001 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The coders that went there have very likely seen some code that is currently "open" but will eventually be closed. And it's very likely it will influence the way they code on Firefox and Seamonkey. So I expect that a few years from now MS legal will come-a-callin' and do what SCO did only they will succeed because they have more money. Smart move there Einteins. This is why it is absolutely imperatif that no one in the FOSS camp ever agrees to look at code that is proprietary. As soon as you do, you're damaged goods.

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  7. Acknowledging Firefox's Popularity by embracethenerdwithin · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It seems to me that MS is finally acknowledging Firefox's popularity.


    What I never understood is the whole browser wars thing, how does MS make money off IE? It's free to download. I guess this signals the end of the browser wars, with both sides sitting down to work together(interesting indeed).

    Maybe they realize that Firefox is a good product and IE isn't actually making them any money so why not support Firefox.

    Or maybe it's just a PR stunt in light of all the recent Vista scare stuff. They wanted us to see it; I'm sure they could have contacted mozilla somehow without the public knowing. The fact is they want us to see this for some reason.

  8. Re:Sense motive checks abound by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It would be nice if Microsoft simply included a branded version of Firefox with Windows Vista. (e.g. one with MSN search as default search engine instead of Google).

  9. Re:Sense motive checks abound by jimicus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It is said that they who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it:

    http://news.com.com/2100-1023-279561.html?legacy=c net

  10. Re:Nice knowing you guys by Prof.Phreak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They are gonna strap these guys down as soon as they get through the doors and feed them "the koolaid", and they will never be the same again. Pity, they were part of an interesting project. Bye bye.

    What -would- happen if MS offered them a $500k a year job to work on IE?... with a condition not to work on Firefox anymore.

    --

    "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy

  11. Non disclosure agreements? Bugzilla reports by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, May be it is real may be it is a trap. We will know which by the kind of "non disclosure" agreements they have to sign to get accepted. Further, will these developers be allowed to post the bugs/ porting issues they find openly in Bugzilla?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  12. Re:Sad. by someone1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe you should learn the tale about the scorpion and the turtle. Sad indeed.

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  13. On Ars also by ms1234 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2006 /8/21/5065

  14. Re:It's a TRAP!!! by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, you are kinda new to the whole idea of "Free software" aren't you? That and paragraph breaks. And reality.

    You DO know that MS can simply READ the source code for Firefox, just like the rest of us? And come out with their own version (according to the license) without inviting anyone? And they have IE7 and don't want to?

    And wtf exactly is a "M$ edition of Firefox"? Is this like Firefox, but it runs on Microsoft operating systems, like Firefox does now?

    How do you claim better support for Firefox? Firefox is the CLIENT, it is supposed to support the protocols, not the other way around, right?

    "a quality browser that supports m$ locked in content". Isn't that IE6/7, and not Firefox?

    Seriously, I am saying this with love: Switch to decaf.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  15. Re:Sense motive checks abound by orielbean · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Companies always spend money on discerning the opposition's methods. GM/Ford buys the other guys' cars to determine what their new tech is for each model. Wired had a cool article on it. Just b/c they want to compete does not mean they don't spend money on understanding the competition.