On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 09:03, Voltage Spike wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 14, 2003 at 10:34:00PM -0700, Craig White wrote:
>
> > With free software / open source - you get the source code.
> >
> > This means that you can modify at will, ensure distribution on any and
> > all machines without restriction. You are not locked into a software
> > investment owned by a corporation and thus subject to their marketing /
> > upgrade whims, their financial demise or acquisition by a competitor who
> > ultimately discontinues development of the software.
>
> Just out of curiosity, how does this compare with Microsoft's "Shared
> Source" program? You obtain the rights to most of the source code,
> and, unless you are under a time-based license, you own the software
> forever. Of primary interest are:
>
> * Microsoft owns the source code and any changes you make to it.
>
> - You can't change the software to include company secrets. The
> GPL allows you to redistribute the changed binary within the
> company without releasing the source code.
>
> - I don't think you can give your changes to other organizations.
> If another company is having the same problems, could you help
> point them in the right direction at least?
>
> * What happens if Microsoft goes out of business? Does the source
> code become free range or would the rights be transferred to another
> company?
>
> * How much does it cost to purchase viewing rights to the code? Does
> Microsoft give away this right for free to larger customers?
>
> Thanks in advance.
-----
Actually, they sell a license to review the source code and thus far, it
has only been made available to developers, the largest corporations and
certain foreign governments. This doesn't include the right to make any
changes, it is only for review and for dissecting their api's
If Microsoft went out of business, there would be many companies bidding
for the rights to the source code.
Craig
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