451 CAOS Theory 
A blog for the enterprise open source community
The importance of Microsoft’s position paper on open source
Matthew Aslett, March 25, 2009 @ 8:59 am ETI mentioned in yesterday’s CAOS Links that Microsoft had published a white paper (PDF) on open source. Called “Participation in a World of Choice” it outlines Microsoft’s perspective on various issues related to open source development, distribution and licensing.
There is plenty for open source advocates to discuss and argue with (and Carlo Daffara has already taken an early swipe at it) but for me the importance of this document is not so much what it says but that it exists at all.
This is the first time Microsoft has attempted to articulate a single, company-wide position on open source, rather than leaving it to individual product groups to come to their on decisions.
As such it represents a key milestone on the industry-wide acceptance of open source. Some time go I noted that I had “just read a document that proves to me that the war between proprietary and open source is over”. This is the document that I was talking about.
Many people will read Microsoft’s white paper and be be dismayed by its description of open source – and I should note that I do not agree with everything in the paper. There is much to argue about, and the skirmishes will continue on various battlefronts, but when Microsoft states that “we are profoundly optimistic that openness to exploring new ways of working together on areas of common concern… will surface new opportunities for Microsoft and open source to ‘grow together’ in purposeful and complementary ways” then I think there has been a fundamental shift in the rules of engagement.
The lines between proprietary and (venture-backed commercial) open source software have blurred to the extent that in many cases it is hard to differentiate between them. The war is over. As I previously noted, however: “Its not altogether clear who won.”
Comments (5) Categories: Business models, Licensing
Microsoft has come a long way in recognizing how important OSS is to their customers and toward embracing the OSS community. We (Black Duck) conducted a survey at SD West on March 10th showing open source use is on the rise( http://www.blackducksoftware.com/news/releases/2009-03-11 ). Embracing this trend is a good strategy. Also I like seeing the recognition that commercial adoption of OSS is based on rational decision making to meet needs and requirements, not based on “religious” issues. Black Duck exists to help commercial development organizations adopt OSS at scale while managing the associated challenges. Microsoft has a huge share of this space and the more they embrace OSS the better for all of our customers.
Peter Vescuso, EVP Marketing, Black Duck Software
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