Re: [silk] Fwd: Microsoft co-opts open source approach?

[rishab@xxxxxxx (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh)]

frankly this is not original at all. not only has MS been releasing
source under NDA to select parties for years (ok perhaps they'll give
it to some more now), there is absolutely no correlation between access
to source code and contribution to its development, as this article
implies. 

> >The greatest initial benefit to Microsoft from this move will be building
> >trust with its largest customers. We tend to trust those who trust us, and
> >releasing source code on the basis of mutual trust will encourage those
> >clients to trust Microsoft.

possibly yes. having access to the source may make one trust that MS isn't
doing sneaky things without one's knowledge.

> >In effect, Microsoft is co-opting the open-source approach. It is
> >essentially recruiting the technical staff of its largest customers (and
> >potentially even the entire hacker community) to help it create improved
> >versions of its software that only it will have the right to distribute.
> >This becomes the vehicle that will drive the technical community to its new
> >model for software development and distribution.

this is pure bullshit. at most, MS will get more bug reports, but they
are likely to be of the "this is broken" kind, marginally more detailed than
they get without distributing source. certainly not "this is broken, and
here's the fix" - which is what happens with Linux source is distributed.
why? precisely because "only [MS] will have the right to distribute." there's
no motive for people to contribute for free without sharing ownership of the
result, and the authors seem to have seriously misunderstood the FS/OS 
movement as being some sort of gathering of hobbyists, "hackers" and saints
instead of rational humans who are clearly not doing something for nothing -
which is what they would be doing for MS in such a situation.

-rishab