[Infowarrior] - Microsoft sets up open-source foundation

[Richard Forno]

Microsoft sets up open-source foundation
by Chris Duckett
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10350671-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft has created the nonprofit CodePlex Foundation to target  
increased communication between open-source communities and software  
companies.

Citing an under-representation of commercial software companies and  
their employees in open source, the CodePlex Foundation aims to work  
with particular projects to bridge the gap between the open-source and  
commercial worlds.

The Redmond giant has contributed $1 million to the foundation and has  
filled out its board and advisory panel with many Microsoft staffers,  
including Sam Ramji, who is leaving Microsoft as its open-source point  
man but is also becoming CodePlex Foundation's interim president.

Unlike other open-source foundations, such as the Mozilla Foundation  
and GNOME Foundation, the foundation said on its Web site that it  
intends to address the full spectrum of software projects.

This is an unexpected and interesting move from Redmond. Don't think  
that this is completely like other open-source foundations that you  
may be used to, though.

Take this line from the Codeplex Foundation FAQ: "We wanted a  
foundation that addresses a full spectrum of software projects, and  
does so with the licensing and intellectual property needs of  
commercial software companies in mind."

Add to this that the About page states that companies will contribute  
code, not patents, and that is what I think will stop the existing  
open-source community from going anywhere near the CodePlex Foundation.

I can't see any patent-encumbered CodePlex project being accepted  
into, or contributing code into, any large existing open-source  
project while still having the patent specter looming overhead--it's  
something that the open-source community has tried to avoid whenever  
possible.

But this is probably not that audience that the foundation is aiming  
for--it's more likely to target purely Microsoft companies/developers  
and attempt to get them to open up a little. Allowing these companies  
to keep their patents will make it easier for them to engage in the  
Microsoft ecosystem but not in the wider open source world.

Chris Duckett of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.