-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Microsoft participation to stir open source summit talks
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Philippines will sponsor an open source summit in Cebu next month
| and this early, the software giant is bracing itself for lively discussions
| about openXML and the fact that the company will make its presence felt at
| the summit.
`----
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080516-136995/Microsoft-participation-to-stir-open-source-summit-talks
OOXML is a case /against/ open source. How *dare* they?
Microsoft will surely continue to pretend that it likes "open source" while
bribing, bullying, fighting the GPL, and trying to move all projects to the
Windows stack, making them dependent on proprietary.
Recent:
Bill Gates’ Disdain for Open Source Even in Retirement
,----[ Quote ]
| Without compromise there is no progress. In the software world Gates was the
| Godfather he didn’t need to work with anyone until the Justice Department
| ruled against him. Even as the richest man in the world he’s got to work
| together with researchers and others if he wants to be successful. Too bad he
| didn’t learn anything about open source’s collaborative values it might have
| served him well as he tries to help cure disease and improve world health
| standards.
|
| I have to wonder if he will be able to make the transition from dictator to
| do-gooder or if he will just write checks?
`----
http://socializedsoftware.com/2008/04/24/bill-gates-disdain-for-open-source-even-in-retirement/
Three myths Microsoft tells Russia
,----[ Quote ]
| I figured it would be good to note (and then bury) three myths that I heard
| perpetuated by Microsoft at the Interop Moscow conference. They've been
| largely discredited elsewhere, but it appears Microsoft prefers to keep
| regurgitating the party line until abject ridicule sets in.
|
| 1. Myth: Open source can't innovate. Coming from Microsoft...
|
| [...]
|
| 2. Open source doesn't interoperate with other software well, while Microsoft
| does. Wow! The cheekiness of that one was breathtaking.
|
| [...]
|
| 3. There is no money in open source. It's funny to hear Microsoft use this
| one, as if its customers are desperate to hear it talk about how much money
| it makes at their expense.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft has gotten better in its open-source rhetoric. Now it just needs to
| make sure its far-flung outposts get the message, too.
`----
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9928657-16.html
Bill Gates, which we disagree with
,----[ Quote ]
| As but one more piece of testamentary evidence that the old guard at
| Microsoft needs to be shown the door, Bill Gates has demonstrated
| conclusively that he has exactly zero understanding of open source, or at
| least zero desire to have an intelligent discussion about it.
|
| [...]
|
| Open source insists upon leaving software open to further improvement. And if
| you were to read the European Union's report on open source, you'd see that
| it's actually a massive opportunity for improved GDP growth.
|
| What open source does is ensure that customers share equally in the economic
| benefits of software, rather than having profits hoarded by one company
| (i.e., Microsoft's model). The GPL does this perhaps best of all. In another
| age, Mr. Gates would have found the GPL to be a dear friend to his better
| capitalist instincts. It's actually a close cousin to a proprietary license
| in some ways, except that it protects through openness, not closed source.
`----
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9927661-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
Bill Gates Claims Open Source Means Nobody Can Improve Software
,----[ Quote ]
| His complaint is that open source creates a license "so that nobody can ever
| improve the software." It's hard to figure out how to respond to that
| statement since it's the exact opposite of how open source software works.
| The exact point is that anyone can improve the software. It's proprietary
| software like Microsoft's that's limited such that only Microsoft is allowed
| to improve it. It's no secret that Gates isn't a fan of open source software,
| but it still seems odd that he would make a statement that is so obviously
| false, both in theory and in practice. Perhaps old FUD habits die hard, but
| one would hope that as he enters "retirement" he'll have a more open mind on
| such things.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080423/004519925.shtml
Bill Gates on Pharmaceuticals: The System Isn't Working
,----[ Quote ]
| One thing Gates won't be leaving behind in retirement is his distaste for
| open source software. After one scientist asked if Gates would consider open
| source uses in health research, the man who built his $280 billion company on
| the power of intellectual property bristled.
|
| "There's free software and then there’s open source," he suggested, noting
| that Microsoft gives away its software in developing countries. With open
| source software, on the other hand, "there is this thing called the GPL,
| which we disagree with."
|
| Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever improve the
| software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and
| business. (Yes, Linux fans, we're aware of how distorted this definition is.)
| He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs,
| you should be able to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That
| may seem radical."
`----
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/bill-gates-what.html
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
iD8DBQFIL1I2U4xAY3RXLo4RAosOAKCfYcFw8aemD6bfCGkmhALMFvhfdACfeNcN
XqxM1W91th79XVsh0w32kbw=
=t45Q
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
