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Microsoft Backs Open Source For the Internet of Things

Posted by samzenpus on from the free-and-open dept.

dcblogs writes Microsoft has joined a Linux Foundation effort to create an open platform for the Internet of Things. The AllSeen Alliance is an effort to standardize device communications. The code that it champions, called AllJoyn, was initially developed by Qualcomm but was subsequently made open source. Big vendors have been recruited to support it, and the AllSeen Alliance now includes LG, Panasonic, Sharp and Haier, among others. Its Xbox gaming platform is seen as a potential hub or control center for home devices. Microsoft's leadership in computing "and its significant Xbox business make it a potentially important contributor to the AllSeen ecosystem," said said Andy Castonguay, an analyst at Machina Research, a Reading, England-based research firm focusing on machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and the Internet of Things.

2 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. History! by Altrag · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1. Embrace <-- you are here
    2. Extend
    3. Extinguish

  2. It's a trap, not a troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Regardless of whether bADlOGIN was trolling, he is actually completely right.

    Consider this article, referenced by the source. It says insurers might like to provide home automation and other "internet of things" devices for free. It mentions the "Teen Safe Driver Program" as an example of how this "free as in beer" program could work. So how does that program work? A black box in your car records events, sends it to the insurance company, and AFTER the insurance company reviews it, the parents might be given a copy of the data. That's right, the insurance company injects itself between parent and child, taking over the parent's job. Naturally, they have their own motivations which are separate from the proper parenting of children. This is espionage.

    Now MS and insurance companies want to do the same for your home? That is prison.

    Microsoft has been interested in home computing for decades with little to show for it beyond the X-Box. The main problem is that there is little in a home that needs to be computerized/automated/networked that hasn't already been from the beginning. A washing machine was a great automation, but there is no real need to automate it further. Have your lights turn on automatically when you come home? Nifty trick, but no one cares really. The only killer-app for home automation is spying on the residents and that is not desirable by the residents. Do they expect us to let insurance companies and other wealthy interests spy on us 24-7 in exchange for "free as in beer" worthless gadgets? To sweeten the bait they may attempt to find gadgets that are more useful. But those are just a trap.

    Also, keep in mind the security of the devices. When the makers' intention is to spy on the users, there is little motivation to keep the device secure from even more spying. OpenSSL showed how a monoculture is insecure even if it is open source. Open standards with independent implementations provide security through diversity.