Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft's Code Contribution Due To GPL Violation
ozmanjusri writes "While Microsoft presented its recent embrace of the GPL as 'a break from the ordinary,' and the press spoke of them as going to great lengths to engage the open source community,' as is often the case with Microsoft, it turns out they had an ulterior motive. According to Stephen Hemminger, an engineer with Vyatta, Microsoft's Hyper-V used open-source components in a network driver and the company released the code to avoid legal action over a GPL violation. Microsoft's decision to embrace the GPL was welcomed by many in the open source community, but their failure to honestly explain the reason behind the release will have squandered this opportunity to build trust, something which is sadly lacking in most people's dealings with Microsoft."
the nigger is laughing too
But who will be having the last laugh?
Will you be finding it so hilarious when you wake up next week and find your entire linux system is now being coded by Microsoft? It's already turning to shit pretty fast, but some genius will fix that soon, by getting another 50 MoronKit daemons running. Oh wait, that didn't help, lets just leave them to rot and start 50 more.
Microsoft is inherently evil. Like kicking puppies.
Well, that whole nonsense about VFAT is nothing to take lightly.
If Microsoft could, they would gladly sabotage my ability to use
Linux. They would gladly sabotage my ability to easily use my
digital camera, my video camera and my personal media player.
I should be free to completely ignore Microsoft if I want to.
This is what seperates them from Ford, or McDonalds, or Campbells
and generates a lot of the ill will that some people like to
demonize others for.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Just because it's not viral to an entire company's products, but only to a particular project does not mean it's not viral. When I have a cold, it affects my nose, but not my feet. That doesn't mean it's not viral.
The GPL *IS* viral by design. If you don't realise that you don't understand the license. The only question is whether that viral nature is a good thing or a bad thing. And the answer to that depends what role you are playing.
You guys get more hilarious every time.
Microsoft releases GPL code, because otherwise they would violate the GPL. Dozens of companies do so. In fact this is the whole point of the GPL.
Is it now called "treachery" to follow the GPL?
If you don't want that people release GPL code, just because otherwise they would violate the GPL, you should just use the BSD license. Then noone will ever release code because he is forced to.
to all the MS haters... Build a better mouse trap and quit crying.
Are you a troll, or just an idiot? I don't need to go into any details about vendor lock-in here.