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Microsoft's Olivier Bloch Explains Microsoft Open Source (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the we're-open-source-or-maybe-we're-not-we're-trying-to-figure-it-all-out dept.

Most of us don't think of Microsoft when our thoughts turn to open source. This is probably because the company's main products, Windows and Office, are so far from open that just thinking about them probably violates their user agreement.. But wait! says Olivier Bloch, Senior Technical Evangelist at Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., we have lots and lots of open source around here. Look at this. And this and this and even this. Lots of open source. Better yet, Olivier works for Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., not directly for the big bad parent company. Watch the video or read the transcript, and maybe you'll figure out where Microsoft is going with their happy talk about open source. (Alternate Video Link)

12 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. This is it. by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Slashdot articles are now pushing Microsoft products. Everything is backwards from 1997.

    1. Re:This is it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      someone, with their head in the sand for the past 20 years, is drinking too much MS-Koolaid for sure. Generally, Microsoft's open source lab or whatever they are calling it today has been all about training someone to move into marketing and develop material and methods to fight customer migrations to open source. They have a long history of this and because they would be DOA without Windows in the market, they can not afford to let or promote any kind of open source which does not lock vendors into Windows.

      Their history has been so filled with attacks on open source and open standards to believe anything they say. It's all marketing all the time.

  2. "we have lots and lots of open source around here" by Nexus+Unplugged · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...and yet, all of Microsoft's flagship products, AFAIK, are the polar opposite of open source. If Microsoft truly thought anything of open source, this should not be the case.

  3. This is old news by celeb8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While MS is the company that everybody who ever liked MacOS or Linux loves to hate, it's been a long time since they've been actively hostile to open source, and they contribute quite a bit to it. Frankly it's been a long time since I've seen a good reason to dislike them any more than any other corporation in an adversarial relationship with a product I like.

    1. Re:This is old news by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Informative

      OOXML and the continued, though as yet unactioned, threat of patents over Linux both come to mind.

      Microsoft is still every bit as evil as it once was. The chief difference between now and the 1990s is that its market, at least on the consumer side, is shrinking. For now that means they're forced to live with major open source projects like Linux, but I refer you back to Ballmer's patent threats. If it really goes down to the wire, you don't think Microsoft would try to litigate Linux out of existence? After all, we already know it bankrolled SCO's attempts.

      Microsoft has never been, nor shall it ever be, a friend to open source. It hates it, fears it, is forced at times to cooperate with it, but you don't think there's a day that goes by that its executive don't wish open source would shrivel up and die?

      There's no change in sentiment, simply in ability to act on the sentiment. The mere fact that they're sending out their latest psuedo-FOSSite quisling demonstrates that Redmond is the same as it ever was.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  4. We don't think of MS for open source because... by gtall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The reason we don't think of MS when it comes to open source is because it is like being reminded of one's evil mother-in-law. You know she's out there, scheming, plotting. You know will have to deal with her one way or another. You know she'd like to steal your soul and sell it straight to Satan.

  5. Yeah, right by DaveM753 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If it's Microsoft, it's a trap.

    (Apologies to any fish-headed gents in the crowd.)

  6. Hyperlinks by jones_supa · · Score: 5, Informative

    Look at this. And this and this and even this.

    Raaawrgh. Not the "this, this and this" dance again. ;) Let me FTFY...

    "Look at Microsoft Open Technologies. And .NET Foundation and a Computerworld article about Internet of Things and even Codeplex."

    A good rule of thumb is that the sentence should be readable even without seeing which URLs the hyperlinks point to.

  7. Halloween Documents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Little bit of Microsoft history for you crazy kids

  8. Microsoft Open Source Initiative? by lippydude · · Score: 4, Informative

    'In a CSI job posting in December, Microsoft said candidates would need to be able to

    “Win share against Open Source Software (OSS) in the cloud, on devices, and in traditional workloads by changing perceptions of Microsoft and winning the socket.”'

    “The core of this role is to win mind-share so that Microsoft can win market-share.” ref

  9. In my 25 years of professional computing... by Shaman · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...any time Microsoft has tried to pass itself off as reasonable and interoperational, it was a springboard attempt to find out who in the industry wants that from them, and then apply thumbscrews, handcuffs, hookers and blow as required to get those companies to see the world its way. That is, the Microsoft-centric, homogenous and locked-in up to their eyeballs, way.

    Never. Ever. Ever. Ever.

    EVER.

    NEVER EVER trust Microsoft. They are the most self-interested company in the history of companies. Even Oracle looks shiny compared to Microsoft.

    --
    ...Steve
  10. he went on to say open source can't be used commer by raymorris · · Score: 4, Informative

    > wasn't talking about open source in general

    Quoting Ballmer:
            If you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source

    He went on to claim software written for or by the government shouldn't be open source because commercial companies are not allowed to use open source software.