Posted on 08/02/2003 1:08:41 AM PDT by HAL9000
Microsoft said Thursday it has now let a dozen national governments see its Windows source code in its battle to win lucrative public-sector contracts and to muffle mounting hype over rival operating system Linux.Earlier this year, Microsoft started a new initiative that involved opening up its Windows OS to governments interested in tailoring the software to fit, primarily, their security needs.
Microsoft said 12 countries, including Austria, Russia, China and the United Kingdom, had entered into the new deals, with another 35 in negotiations, since the program started in January.
The stakes are high. An increasing number of corporations and governments are turning to open-source Linux to run their desktop and network computer systems, posing the biggest threat yet to Microsoft's dominant market position in operating systems.
Microsoft has turned up the heat in its offensive against vendors of Linux software and services--which range from IBM to Red Hat--creating special funds and discounts to win budget-conscious customers.
Linux, which is relatively cheap to install and is transparent because the key software was developed by volunteers, has built market share in servers--the workhorse computers that feed Web sites, e-mail and other data to desktop PCs.
Linux now runs some 15 percent of all servers sold in Europe, compared with 0.7 percent in 1998, according to market researcher IDC.
Opening up Windows was an unthinkable concept a few years ago before the open-source concept gained momentum, but Microsoft has been forced to respond to the new spirit in the software industry of allowing customers to tailor proprietary products to fit their needs.
On the corporate side, Microsoft will allow big enterprises to view, but not change, any of the core Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003 source code. Smaller companies with under 1,500 Windows desktops are not permitted any access.
Also, Microsoft has begun to allow license-holders to tweak its Windows CE.Net and ASP.Net source codes, encouraging the development of commercial applications based on Microsoft code in areas where the software giant is a relatively new entrant and faces intense competition from connectivity software such as Java.
One such example is Japan's Hitachi, which is developing a personal digital assistant that has a high-speed Internet connection and is based on Windows CE.Net software. Meanwhile, Wilfried Grommen, general manager for Microsoft business strategies for Europe, Middle East and Africa, identified Eastern Europe as a significant future market.
Microsoft pointed out that it had recently won contracts to help the Lithuanian and Romanian governments put tax filing and visa processing, respectively, online.
Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Boo-hoo-hoo.
Even worse, Sun, Apple, even IBM may be forced at some point to make similiar submissions themselves.
Dear GOD your ignorance is astounding!! Sun has been giving its source out to universities for YEARS. Apple is already known as a BSD-based OS. (Hint: BSD is open source). And IBM is replacing AIX with Linux. (Clue: Linux is open source.)
Do you know anything about this subject apart from how to twist everything into being a shill for Microsoft? From what I've seen, you don't.
However, 'peeks' at M$ or other US proprietary code in no way compares to Linux being the official operating system of the Chineese government
Did you even READ the article?? They aren't getting a "peek," they're getting the source code. You think they won't copy it for "later review"? Riiiiiiiiiiiight.
-Jay
And your arrogance is appalling.
Must you always jump up and down with both arms flailing when you post, plus name calling or personal attacks, which you apparently can't avoid?
I know a lot about these subjects, including these are in fact 'peeps' as the title correctly indicated. You need to better come to grips with your own shortcomings before you so arrangantly spout more incorrection information.
And if you could possibly show there might be much fact behind your latest claims, got a link for me to OSX source? I wouldn't mind checking it out, since we're all supposed to be spending our spare time looking over this stuff for security vulnerabilities, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.