On Thu, 16 Jan 2003, Burke, Thomas G. wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Old news maybe, but here it is: > > Microsoft <http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=MSFT>(Nasdaq: > MSFT) <http://quote.fool.com/uberdata.asp?symbols=MSFT> is going open > source, at least for governments that want to inspect its Windows > operating system.
it's not open source -- microsoft refers to their program as "shared source", and it comes with all the typical NDAs and restrictions. - you can't see all of it, just what MS wants you to see - you can't discuss what you see with anyone else - you can't make changes to what you see perhaps the most dangerous part of this is that, once you *do* see any of that code, you are now worthless as a programmer in that area since, if you ever write code for a competing product, MS will be in a position to sue you for stealing their code. there is some irony in the "viral" nature of this shared source program as it will infect anyone it comes in contact with. > Through an initiative called the Government Security Program (GSP), > the company will give governments and governmental agencies > controlled access to Windows' underlying code. For a company that has > always zealously guarded its intellectual property, this is > significant. no, it's not. > Microsoft has opened up its code in the past, to some > extent, but this program goes even farther. hardly. > The software giant will allow governments to review and judge > Windows' security for themselves. Access will be free, and > participants will actually make changes to the code, if necessary. > Most of the changes are expected to be security-related and will vary > from agency to agency. In addition, Microsoft will reveal technical > documents and provide other support for the program. this is not the story as i originally heard it, and i suspect there are all kinds of limitations that this article doesn't mention. > This move is the company's most extreme yet, and will likely garner > the response it wants. only from organizations and governments that are indescribably: 1) clueless, or 2) corrupt > Already, Russia and NATO have signed GSP > agreements with Microsoft. oh, lord, the irony. > The company says it's discussing the > program with more than 20 other governments, and it has a list of 60 > with which it would consider signing agreements. > By opening up, Microsoft may just end up locking down the > governmental software market. see references to "clueless" and "corrupt" above. rday -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
