A number of reasons I can think of-including: First they tried to get around GPL so they could use the open source but close off any changed/"enhancements" they make from the public-so now they are gunning for GPL. And perhaps they are afraid that the Govt will force them as part of the anti-trust case to make sources or sections of source available. SecurityFocus just had an article on why M$ should not open source their software.
-----Original Message----- From: Andrew Shewmaker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2002 10:14 AM To: Bob Drzyzgula Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: MS attacking government use of "open source" On Thu, 23 May 2002 07:12:54 -0400 Bob Drzyzgula <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > All of us using and supporting Linux in government > probably need to be somewhat concerned about this. The > Pentagon at least seems not to have been swayed so far, > but it's gone far enough for them to pay Mitre for a study > of the question. I'm not sure that all agencies would > be this steadfast. I find myself wanting to write letters to my representatives, etc., but then I think to myself that it will all work itself out. It may work itself out, but perhaps my real reason for not doing something is that I don't feel like it will make a difference. I'm from Idaho and this state appears to have little power to affect anything. Of course, not doing anything is a good way of guaranteeing that I don't have any affect. I plan on making my representatives aware of Peruvian Congressman Villanueva's bill and letter to Microsoft. http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-05-20-006-26-IN-LF-PB > "Microsoft has argued that some free-licensing > regimes are antithetical to the government's > stated policy that moneymaking applications > should develop from government-funded research > and that intellectual property should be > protected." I don't understand why many people (not just MS) are so adamantly opposed to the GPL. I know that the GPL is not for everything, but it is really a good license for the information age. Instead of paying for the right to use the software with money, a person simply pays with any source code modifications they make. Andrew -- Andrew Shewmaker Associate Engineer Phone: 208.526.1415 Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory 2525 Fremont Ave. P.O. Box 1625, MS 3605 Idaho Falls, ID 83414-3605 _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
