Sudden Insight Dept. - Why is Microsoft suddenly opening the FUDgates when it comes to Open Source? Sure, the competitive pressures generated by OSS have something to do with it, but it occurred to us at work today that there's something else at play. When OSS was mostly generated by small groups of individuals, it was possible for Microsoft to swipe code at will; even if the theft were somehow discovered and provable, no individual could ever hope to throw enough lawyers MS's way to litigate against them successfully. Now that companies like IBM are actually open-sourcing parts of their code, and are presumably ready willing and able to haul offending companies into court for violating the licenses on that code, Microsoft might actually face viable legal challenges for stealing Open Source software. Who knows if it's really what's going on, but it sounds plausible doesn't it?




Previously at Studio Nibble...

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