Microsoft Launches Free Web Software Eco-System

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft, inspired perhaps by the ease of selecting and installing iPhone apps, has taken a similar approach to gather back market share of its IIS web server in a predominantly Apache/PHP market. 10 open source CMS, gallery, wiki, and blog tools were chosen to populate the eco-system, dubbed Web App Gallery. Developers must agree to principles and can now submit their PHP or .NET application for inclusion. Once an application is in the gallery, Windows users use Microsoft Web Platform Installer, released in a keynote at MIX this week, which inspects the the local system, and installs and configures dependencies like the IIS webserver, PHP, URL re-writers, and file permissions. Screenshots show this to be quite easy for the typical computer user. This could provide some real competition for WAMP and Linux shell install processes."

Comments

Microsoft and what?

[Kickboy12]

It's not every day you see "Microsoft" and "Free" in the same headline.

You think this is a sign Microsoft is legitimately trying to reach out to the web community? Or is this just another attempt to grab server market share from Apache and the Linux community?

Generally, I think the last thing the web needs is more servers running IIS.

Re:Microsoft and what?

[qoncept]

You think this is a sign Microsoft is legitimately trying to reach out to the web community? Or is this just another attempt to grab server market share from Apache and the Linux community?

Um.. what's the difference? One thing I can promise you is that Microsoft, like any other company, does what it feels is in its best interest. ie, they aren't trying to do anyone a favor here, they're trying to make more money.

Re:Microsoft and what?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

You'll notice, "free" applies to other people's software. Microsoft, ever infinitely gracious, deigns to allow you to give your software away so that they can sell more of theirs.

Nobody should be surprised by a move like this. Web applications, CMSes and the like, are complementary goods to web servers and OSes. Everybody wants goods complementary to their own products to be cheaper, so as to drive demand. This isn't some sort of philosophical revolution, just Econ 101 + self interest on MS's part.

Re:Microsoft and what?

[HangingChad]

Or is this just another attempt to grab server market share from Apache and the Linux community?

This is MS trying to show everyone they can play in the "cloud" with the cool kids. It's the Zune for SAS.

Back in the day MS came out with Explorer and hosed Netscape. Seems like ever since they wait for the trend to establish itself and then come in with a competing product trying to recreate that market capture moment from years ago. Only they show up late with products that are usually tied to their OS platform and maybe a little dorky.

Microsoft trying to be hip and trendy sometimes reminds me of a middle-aged guy hitting on his daughters college-age friends.

Re:Microsoft and what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because of that whole embrace, extend and extinguish thing. Install some proprietary hooks (remember Frontpage) and portability goes out the window.

Honestly now, can you imagine Microsoft releasing something that wouldn't involve a mechanism like that? They have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to increase market share as much as possible.

It'll take a while but they've got plenty of patience (and money).

Re:Microsoft and what?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not every day you see "Microsoft" and "Free" in the same headline.

Not "free" as in beer, "free" as in cheese in a mousetrap...

Great, another PHPNuke and Wordpress

[guruevi]

PHPNuke and other CMS'es or weblog thingies like Wordpress made it simple to create websites for the masses of people that just wanted something simple to host their website. Of course, they never kept up with any of the updates or didn't even give a hoot about security. Next thing you know you have a bunch of websites that are cracked and now serve ads and malware.

Re:Great, another PHPNuke and Wordpress

[tearmeapart]

...and I think the others are usually a lot easier to install. Microsoft's takes at least 5 steps (with steps like 1. "Download, Configure, Install MySQL").

Meanwhile, on many other systems, it is a lot less work:
Ubuntu:
1. In the Programs menu, click "Add/Remove"
2. Select the CMS (or whatever) that you want, and click "Install"
3. Enjoy.

Other debian systems:
1. apt-get install my-favourite-cms

Freebsd:
1. cd /usr/ports/www/my-favourite-cms; make install

And finally, a quick comparison between this new Microsoft way and the usual ways with GNU Linux/BSD:
Installing is easier with GNU Linux/BSD
Configuration is easier with GNU Linux/BSD
Support is generally more available with GNU Linux/BSD
Writing plugins is generally a whole lot easier with GNU Linux/BSD because the code is available

Especially with the new tools available, I believe IIS deserves to die.

Re:Great, another PHPNuke and Wordpress

[buchner.johannes]

It isn't apache (the webserver) that provides the comfort you describe. The package managing system is. So why should IIS (the webserver) die?
Someone should provide a package managing system to enable the comfort for IIS. Oh, look at that, the summary says Microsoft is doing that.

Re:Great, another PHPNuke and Wordpress

[Anonymous Coward]

If you need access to the source code of a system write plugins for it, the plugin system in place isn't a very good one IMHO

Not needed for server apps

[saibot834]

Servers are maintained by people who are not computer newbies and need a GUI. Normally they know how to handle a shell.
Extremely ease install routines for server applications suggest that maintaining a server and keeping it secure is a trivial task, just like clicking those shiny "install" buttons. This is not the case, and you better know how to keep your server save if you run it on the web, especially if you make the somewhat disturbing choice to run it under Windows.

Re:Not needed for server apps

[rackserverdeals]

There are plenty of people with servers out there that don't know what they're doing and couldn't restart a service if their control panel software got hosed.

Re:Not needed for server apps

[MeanMF]

That may be true for larger sites, but there's a huge market for low-cost, turnkey web hosting usually fronted with cPanel or Plesk. Microsoft wants to get into that market.

Re:Not needed for server apps

[thetoadwarrior]

And we shouldn't encourage those sort of people to run servers.

Re:Not needed for server apps

[jedidiah]

No, "elitist nerds" just realize that if you screw this up you could end up being responsible for hosting kiddie porn.

Being "easy to setup" and "easy to setup correctly" are worlds apart.

Even the shiny happiness of Windows doesn't alter this. (despite all the propaganda to the contrary)

Re:Big deal.

[CannonballHead]

Big deal. Two open source tools? How many closed-source tools are in the "ecosystem"?

Open Source != Good. Closed Source != Bad. Just as open source and bad are not mutually exclusive, closed source and good are not mutually exclusive, regardless of what Stallman thinks. I have used quite a few closed source programs that I like quite a bit, and quite a few open source programs that were plain awful. And vice versa. The idea that in order to be a Good Thing (tm) it has to be Open Source (tm) is a Weird Thing (tm).

Re:Big deal.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

This is probably tangental; but Stallman takes no position on the quality of proprietary or free software programs. His position is strictly concerned with the ethics and implications for freedom of the two.

It is the business side guys, the ones who talk about "open source" who advance the argument that the development model produces better, as opposed to freer or more ethical, software

You don't have to agree with him; but you should, in that case, at least disagree with him rather than somebody else entirely.

Open source used to undermine Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

The reason why Microsoft is giving support to open source applications is not because it wishes to support open source.

It is because it fears the open source operating system more than anything else. It imagines that if they welcome open source application developers onto the Microsoft platform they will be able to undermine support for the rival operating system (Linux).

If and when the rival operating system fades into disuse, those open source application developers will find that the Microsoft embrace can be every bit as fatal as a boa constrictor's

Yeah, The App Store

[SuiteSisterMary]

Microsoft, inspired perhaps by the ease of selecting and installing iPhone apps

Yup. Cuz nobody's every thought about a package manager before. Especially not one with a nice, GUI front end.

Hey, maybe Microsoft will adopt something similar for the Xbox 360. You know, to make it easier to download add-ons, small games, videos, and so on. They could call it, I don't know, Xbox Live Marketplace or something. Too bad it's too late for them to have done it for the Xbox. Real shame that.

Re:Big deal.

[jedidiah]

If I choose Microsoft they will strive to trap me, perhaps not today but someday and for the rest of my life.

The fact that Microsoft is a greedy little spider is not something that should ever be ignored.