Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Makes Second GPLv2 Release
angry tapir writes "Microsoft has made its second release under the General Public License in two days with software for Moodle, an 'open-source course management system that teachers use to create online learning Web sites for their classes[, which] has about 30 million users in 207 countries.' It comes on the heels of Redmond contributing drivers to the Linux community. No reports as yet on dropping temperatures in hell."
Someone should really check out the source, just to be sure it doesn't contain hidden subliminal "You Love Microsoft" messages. A good way to brainwash people is to interfere with their education...
1) Release code under GPL
2) Pigs fly and spread pig flue
3) ?????
4) Plague!
5) Robo-ballmer rules the world
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Coming from an era when even education versions of Microsoft's software would cost a bit of scratch, I can only applaud this move. Course/Project Management software needs to be flexible and accessible. I believe this meets both criteria.
Where genius and insanity become confused true wisdom is found
This is an moodle plugin for microsoft's own groupware. Like their previous driver offering, it's not a wholehearted contribution to making an open source project better, but instead just a thing to make microsoft's own services work better when people need to use open source.
It's good to see a willingness to do even this much, but hardly a staggering change of heart. They've a long way to go yet.
Not everyone was fooled. Apenwarr wrote about it, for one.
This is still Microsoft, folks. It's always a trap.
you had me at #!
I don't know... It looks like its going to drop a few degrees overnight. http://www.weathercity.com/us/mi/hell/
AS far as I'm aware, the only thing they have for Moodle is a Windows Live Plugin, that lets you do Windows Live Searches and have some sort of MSN Messnger functionality.
This isn't Microsoft caring about GPL or whatever, it's about a small project that gives them more hooks into more websites. It gives people learning to use the web in a formal environment MORE Microsoft.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
Moodle is GPLv2, so the plugin must be GPLv2 also or it won't be compatible with the existing software.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Hmm, this is interesting. The more cynical part of me wonders why, and can't help but recall the protections against patent litigation built into GPLv3, and notably missing from GPLv2...
What's interesting about it? The Linux kernel is GPLv2 so a GPLv3 driver is unlikely to make it in. Moodle is also GPLv2 so it's perfectly logical that they'd release their plugin that works with it under the same license. Did you forget that whole big thing about GPLv3 being incompatible with GPLv2? In fact, it would be stupid on their part to release source code to work with programs under incompatible license terms which would disallow anyone from legitimately being able to distribute it.
And, if they are changing, it takes a long time to reverse a reputation as bad as the one they have.
MS have a long and distinguished history of fucking people over. It will take a long time of them specifically not fucking people over for people to stop expecting anything MS announce to have ulterior motives. In much the same way as those people suspicious of MS cannot expect a turnaround in the attitude of the company overnight, you cannot realistically expect an overnight turnaround in the way Microsoft is perceived. I'm no MS hater. I know they've done a pretty big bunch of good things, and, as a Linux user I'm relishing (and, admittedly slightly worried by) the substantial increase in quality from them recently. IE and Office are two bits of MS software that have come on leaps and bounds in the past few years. But I still viewed everything they release with some suspicion because for so many years that has been the most appropriate thing to do. And for several years into the future, the MS I know is going to be the one that one should be suspicious of. Maybe they are changing, but they'll have to change dramatically and far to realistically win people over into thinking they're working for the good of anyone but themselves.
I think this is part of a larger strategy to point people to thier Azure "Cloud" platform.
Microsoft will probably "open source" more of thier software if it serves the purpose of exposing Microsoft to more people.
If you expect them to one day open source any of thier major technologies (e.g. DirectX, Windows or SQL Server) you will be waiting a loooonnnng time before this will happen.
They will probably open source enough of the "connectivity" type of software to provide a "path of least resistance" to interoperate *into* the Azure platform.
Of course the Azure platform is *not* open source which means you will be *locked-into* thier technology. So sure, you may have open source client code at your disposal but it eventually will lead into a locked platform.
As a company they want to grow beyond "PC on every desk, Windows on every PC, on every phone, console, toaster, gerbil" - that's too limiting now, they want to be the central hub of the Internet and fully exploit "the cloud".
As a bonus everyone moves to a rental model (like the mainframes of years ago) - you don't own anything, you are bound by *thier* "terms and conditions" and you perpetually keep paying for stuff.
This is a corporation's wet dream.
In this case "It's a Trap" may be justified.
Or I am just paranoid and drink waaaayyy too much coffee.
There have been times in my life when I would not have thought that someone who calls himself "fuzzy fuzzy fungus" could educate me.
But you did it this time.
for doing it right and not using GPLv3 just because it's newer! It is useless to have open source software available for your use if its license is fundamentally incompatible with your business. Of course, it would be even nicer if they released software under an even freer license i.e. BSD or similar, but I think the only thing preventing that is those licenses not having the buzzwordiness of GPL.
Brian Fundakowski Feldman