Posted on 08/24/2016 5:42:34 PM PDT by dayglored
How far is Microsoft willing to go on this open-source charm offensive?
Here’s a burning question for the tech universe: Could Microsoft, which built its Windows cash cow on proprietary or closed-source software, reverse course and open-source Windows itself?
That would be roughly akin to CocaCola posting its top-secret formula online. Crazy, right?
Maybe not, although the very notion would have been unthinkable not too long ago. But it is now on the table considering all the things Microsoft has done over the past few years to embrace the open-source community.
The most recent example is last week’s news that the company is open-sourcing its PowerShell tool that helps developers manage Windows applications. Two years ago, it open-sourced the core elements of its .Net framework which is basic building blocks for software developers. This GitHub site lists all Microsoft’s open-source projects.
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“There may be covenants and patents in there that would make open sourcing Windows difficult,” noted Bryan Cantrill, chief technology officer of Joyent.
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One key benefit of such a move, in theory, would be this code would be scrutinized by many more developers than in the past, and that could lead to better security and fewer bugs.
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(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
That’s because the money really isn’t in the operating system any more. It’s all in the apps.
There aren’t enough programmers in the world to clean that OS up.
That's very much the case, as Microsoft is moving towards applications as subscription services.
Mark
Another possibility would be something that stands with respect to Windows, like Linux does to Unix. A Windows-alike environment. It doesn’t have to be the same as Windows from the ground up.
Bookmark
“Open Source Windows May Not Be that Big a Long Shot After All “
Oh! So THAT’S why Microsoft is totally destroying the Windows operating system. By the time it’s “open sourced”, it won’t be worth a hill of beans, so might as well just give it away at that point.
The problem is just code, it’s structure (I can’t call it design).
s/b
isn’t just code
(*) I doubt they have even moderately solid code, what with their apparent focus on adding features first, then patching and fixing. Maybe exposure to thousands of open source developers could help with that.
The idea of a work alike open source OS, similar to Linux's relationship to Unix has some merit. However, there is still the massive, convoluted, and problematic API to deal with and mimic.
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