Why Microsoft Is Being Nicer To Open Source

itwbennett writes "Is open source's growth in emerging markets what is driving Microsoft to say 'we love open source' with an attempt at a straight face? 'The emerging markets (like the BRIC nations) are a huge potential market for Microsoft,' says Brian Proffitt. 'And I believe Redmond is wisely not taking the FUD route on open source software in those markets. Why? Because open source already has some strong roots in the BRIC nations (heck, in Brazil, open source is the whole darn tree), and any attack on open source would be seen as a foreign company attacking local software projects. If Microsoft attacked open source publicly in this environment, a lot of potential customers and developers in those countries could react in a protectionist manner and start giving Microsoft the stink-eye.'"

Comments

Re:Do Not Trust Microsoft

[gnupun]

The only thing that Microsoft cares about is profit.

Do you breathe air, or eat food? That's profit, and there's nothing wrong with it. Working for profit is better than being some brainwashed OSS slave programmer who is not making money himself and is also destroying income source of fellow programmers.

Re:Do Not Trust Microsoft

[gnupun]

Also, proprietary software having to compete with open source is simply part of the market, if someone else can produce a cheaper and superior product than you, then your business model is failing and you will have to resort to underhanded tactics to prop it up.

Free, slave labor product vs proprietary is not considered competitive by any means. It is considered anti-competitive in the business world and there are laws against such a practice, but since Linux is not owned by any company, there is no chance of getting sued for dumping low-cost product into the marketplace.