Microsoft turns it up at open-source forum

By RICHARD WOOD

Five Microsoft staffers raised eyebrows by attending a public presentation on open source software at a New Zealand Computer Society Auckland branch meeting last week.

Open source is free to use, distribute, and modify. It is developed co-operatively through the freely given development time of individuals and companies.

Its products are a threat to Microsoft revenue streams.

Examples include the Linux operating system, the OpenOffice business application suite, and the Apache web server.

In a lively extended meeting Open Source Society spokesman and developer Peter Harrison outlined what open source software is, the various ways it is licensed, and the benefits and pitfalls of using it to develop applications.

Microsoft manager Brett Roberts questioned comparisons between Microsoft products and what open source competitors were using in equivalent versions and offered up Windows XP and Office XP for comparison against the latest in open source.

"I'll send you a copy," he said to Harrison. "I think it's a good idea you have that."

Roberts further questioned the backward compatibility of Linux, and the effect of using open source product in proprietary developments.

Open source software is usually made available under specific licences such as the General Public Licence (GPL). A stipulation of the GPL is that any resultant code must be made publicly available also under the GPL.

Roberts asked whether it was necessary for developers to keep a "Chinese wall" between their open source and proprietary development teams to prevent this "infection" of proprietary products.

Harrison said the key issue was whether GPL licensed software was "statically" or "dynamically" linked.

If GPL software simply interacts with software dynamically then that software can remain proprietary. If GPL source code is actually incorporated into a software program unit it is a static link and that software must be licensed under the GPL.

The Open Source Society is taking on the enforcement role of GPL in New Zealand - which in the United States is handled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Also discussed at the meeting was how Linux software was interactively developed by thousands of developers.

Harrison said it was an evolutionary process in which little pieces were written at a time and the best code produced was selected for official releases.

Founder Linus Torvalds is the ultimate decision maker, although he has a circle of associates who are allocated specific areas of the system.

Microsoft's Roberts questioned the viability of the business model by suggesting he could take Red Hat Linux, rename it Pink Hat Linux and sell it for a dollar cheaper.

Harrison agreed this was possible but said Red Hat had made a business out of selling boxed product of Linux partly because the community buying Linux supports those they know have done the development work.