[svlug] What's the Business Case for Microsoft and Open Source

[Rob McCready]

I don't think you could explain this to them as it does not make any business sense for them to. Open Source and/or Open Standards generally make for commodity software which implies the possibility of buying from someone other than Microsoft. This right here is where they start convulsing and foaming at the mouth. 

For example opening the SMB protocol would allow a better version of Samba and give people the ability to replace a w2k server with an old Linux box. As a monopoly with 90% of the desktop market there are vastly more people who will choose "The Microsoft way" for compatability instead of going with a full Open Sourse system. Why would Microsoft want to do anything to allow people other choices?


As a side note, to pull from the RedHat thread, What happens when RedHat has a decent patent portfolio that gets widely used and Microsoft offers shareholders 2x the current stock price? I think that when Microsoft changes their attitude towards Linux and Open Source it will only be because they have found a way to embrace and extend, or at least fracture and cause chaos.

Rob.



begin Jeremy Zawodny quotation of Sat, Jun 01, 2002 at 09:53:26AM -0700:

>> If you had to explain to Microsoft why they should change their
>> attitude toward Open Source, what would you say?
>