Quoting Rafael 'Dido' Sevilla ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > I don't think MS actually would release any of its source code with > anything even approximating an open source license. You pay the borg, > you sign an NDA, and you can do nothing but look at it.
Sam Varghese wrote a piece, recently, on Microsoft Corporation offering some highly limited inspection rights to some of their source code -- under highly proprietary terms, that are nothing at all like open source. Here's my note back to him: Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 04:05:57 -0800 From: Rick Moen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sam Varghese <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Thoughts on "Would you like source with that?" Liked the piece. Interesting point you make about any benefits potentially going away with the next service pack. There's another aspect of this, that isn't immediately apparent: Any coder who looks at Microsoft source code under NDA is compromising his freedom of movement, thereafter: If you can even be plausibly _claimed_ to have had access to proprietary information, your attempts to participate in open-source projects may have to be regretfully declined. For example, the Samba Project has had to be very firm on this point, to avoid legal entanglements and "tainting" of their own codebase with proprietary claims. (The concerns aren't limited to copyright law. There are also patent-law and trade secret dangers.) For that matter, such a coder may find his right to work in other proprietary-software firms or other commercial efforts restricted, too. Even in places like California that have outlawed enforcement of covenants not to compete against former employees, recent court decisions have sometimes held that their knowledge of the field, e.g., of what areas of research are not likely to pan out, is inescapably tainted by their knowledge of the old employer's trade secrets. It's not difficult to imagine the same logic being applied to non-employees' NDAs. Many casual commentators assume that the open-source community would love to have access to Microsoft Corporation's proprietary source code. Ironically, nothing could be further from the truth: Open-source coders actually fear even the appearance that they might, at any time, have had such access. Indeed, any opening up of such access (but still under proprietary terms) would be a serious hazard. -- Cheers, I once successfully declined a departmental retreat, Rick Moen saying that on that day I planned instead to advance. [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Alan J. Rosenthal, in the Monastery _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fully Searchable Archives With Friendly Web Interface at http://marc.free.net.ph To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
