Re: [ossig] Microsoft going round promoting .net

[Harish Pillay <harish@lugs.org.sg>]

Imran -

What are the contents in the .NET CD?  Could those be sample code 
on how to use the .NET API?  Back when I was in MS (13 years ago), 
we used to give source code away that was basically code to show 
how to build a Windows and OS/2 app - clock, notepad etc.  A lot
of it were either verbatim or extensions from Petzold's book on 
Windows programming.

I am not sure if people on this list are aware of the subtle but
important difference between GPLed and Shared Source code.  One
can read, study, understand, adopt and even implement independently 
ideas that one gets from GPLed code and without fear of prosecution
etc.  Whereas, Shared Source can contaminate one's future work 
because the virality of Shared Source scheme.  IMHO, shared source
is more damaging than GPL is.

BTW, could you email the full shared source license to this list?

Harish

On Thu, Mar 20, 2003 at 06:04:46PM +0800, Imran William Smith wrote:
> MS did a presentation here (Mimos) today on .NET, hoping
> to target the technology research people within Mimos.
> 
> 
> They are keen to give out CD's with .NET shared source
> on them, inviting us to duplicate them, give them out,
> have a good browse through the information and code.  Only
> when I quizzed them about the licensing agreement did they
> admit that there was a license agreement, but glossed
> over it somewhat with 'it's a few pages of legal
> stuff, actually I didn't read it fully myself'.  The guy
> presenting (Dr. Wong Chek Yoon, MicroSoft Visiting Fellow,
> Multimedia University) was kind enough to email me
> the full license agreement afterwards.
> 
> The key phrase is probably:
> 
> "You may use any information in intangible form that you remember after
> accessing the Software.  However, this right does not grant you a
> license to any of Microsoft's copyrights or patents for anything you
> might create using such information."
> 
> 
> The license is somewhat GPL-like - you can modify and
> redistribute but only under the terms of the original license,
> and if you try to sue anyone for patent infringement, the license 
> automatically ends.
> 
> 
> 
> It looks to me like
> MS is actively pushing sharedsource code at developers.
> They're trying to get mindset in academic world, saying
> 'this source code will help you do technology research'.
> They spin it as 'help the world of technology move forward',
> rather than 'help the world of *Microsoft* technology
> move forward'.
> 
> 
> How best to counter?  Just keep the open source PR
> machine rolling?
> 
> 
> Imran
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Imran William Smith
> Project Manager, Open Source Development,
> Mimos Berhad, Malaysia
> 
> Asian Open Source Centre : http://www.asiaosc.org
> Mimos open source        : http://opensource.mimos.my
> 
> 
> 
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