A Microsoft Veteran Embraces Open Source
Keith Curtis has just written a book about the future of software. That in itself isn’t unique. More unusual is that Mr. Curtis, an 11-year veteran of Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, believes deeply that open source is the future of software.
Microsoft, of course, has long been the archenemy of the open source community, which is built on the notion of freely sharing intellectual property for the good of the community. I.B.M. and Sun Microsystems have embraced the open source cause, as have other technology giants. Even Apple’s OS X operating system is at its core open source — an Apple executive has said that more than 50 percent of the lines of code in OS X come from the open source Berkeley Software Distribution and related projects.
In contrast, Microsoft has made only grudging accommodations to the open source movement, offering some of its source code to programmers who use its technology while valiantly arguing that for-pay software is less expensive than free software when you consider the bigger picture.
Mr. Curtis, who joined Microsoft in 1993 and left in 2004, begs to differ. And while he says he holds no grudge against his former employer, in the long run, the company “is toast.”
Read the rest of this article here
Subscribe by ...
To receive future articles like this one in your inbox or Feed reader, please take a few seconds to subscribe to this site by email or RSS. You may also follow us on Twitter.
Sponsored Links
The next best thing to fruits & vegetables is Juice Plus
Buy Fedora installation media at very low prices from OSDisc
Don't have high speed Internet access? Buy Ubuntu and Mint installation media at very low prices
Develop your community's collaboration and communication skills with Collaba server
To buy a text link ad here, send us an email
