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Microsofts New Answer to the Linux "problem"
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Another bit of news for you, got to love this Linux vs Microsoft debate, this time about Microsoft's 'answer' to the linux 'problem' after MS CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience of MVPs (Microsoft Valued Professionals) last Monday in London.
Microsoft have basically come up with a plan initiative to give members of its MVP program smart-card access to much of the Windows source code which is currently only accessible large users such as govenments and universities. The idea of this is to create a sense of "community" for developing software and sharing ideas.
For anyone not aware who counts as MVPs or how to become one, its basically a group of designated users with particular skills - usually seen by how often they intervene helpfully in Microsoft newsgroups. There are about 1,200 MVPs worldwide with over 50% in the US (Suprise Suprise). You can't become one by being certified by Microsoft (so anyone else like me with an MCSE or MCSA can take a running jump) as they want people to be recognised by their peers not by exams they could (potentially) cheat in.
"Linux is a serious competitor," said Ballmer. "We have to compete with free software on value, but in a smart way. We cannot price at zero, so we need to justify our posture and pricing. Linux isn't going to go away--our job is to provide a better product in the marketplace."
Microsoft also addressed the problem they have with security which I did find interesting and they do have a point to a degree, basically they said that with them publically posting bug fixes can promote attacks as users don't update their software fast enough; "The hacker waits till a fix is posted, then writes an attack and sends it out," he said. Such attacks are based on information in the fix. The answer is to make sure that fixes are easier to distribute and implement so the user base is up to date"
And finally in answer to Microsoft providing software in the future on the Linux front (which makes for lateral thinking really doesn't it); "We do not anticipate offering software on Linux," said Ballmer. "Nobody pays for software on Linux." Even StarOffice, sold by Sun, was originally a free product, he said. And IBM, arguably the No. 1 player in the Linux market, promotes Linux to big users, but does not actually sell Linux: "It's weird. IBM says 'Hey British Aerospace! Buy Linux...from SuSE."
Personally I think MS need to increase this MVP program to a larger audience as at present a community of 1,200 isn't going to prevent or reduce a community of a much larger scale. They raised some good points on security and they are right, but that doesn't count to a decent excuse for everything... Microsoft can be secure, hell yes.. its just most people don't know the way to do it and how many people openly know about such resources as MSDN and Technet?
If Microsoft were to open source their software to a much larger audience, welcome more people in the beta programs (which admitidly with Windows.NET Server 2003 RC1 it has become publically available - if you have a vaid reason and its a 365 day evaluation, I'm impressed with it and its the best release of Windows I've got) and listen more to customers, then they can strive foward... its time to stop avoiding the issue and recognise that Linux means business and learn from each others software to ultimately provide the user a fast, secure, reliable and fully compatible system for years to come
Microsoft have basically come up with a plan initiative to give members of its MVP program smart-card access to much of the Windows source code which is currently only accessible large users such as govenments and universities. The idea of this is to create a sense of "community" for developing software and sharing ideas.
For anyone not aware who counts as MVPs or how to become one, its basically a group of designated users with particular skills - usually seen by how often they intervene helpfully in Microsoft newsgroups. There are about 1,200 MVPs worldwide with over 50% in the US (Suprise Suprise). You can't become one by being certified by Microsoft (so anyone else like me with an MCSE or MCSA can take a running jump) as they want people to be recognised by their peers not by exams they could (potentially) cheat in.
"Linux is a serious competitor," said Ballmer. "We have to compete with free software on value, but in a smart way. We cannot price at zero, so we need to justify our posture and pricing. Linux isn't going to go away--our job is to provide a better product in the marketplace."
Microsoft also addressed the problem they have with security which I did find interesting and they do have a point to a degree, basically they said that with them publically posting bug fixes can promote attacks as users don't update their software fast enough; "The hacker waits till a fix is posted, then writes an attack and sends it out," he said. Such attacks are based on information in the fix. The answer is to make sure that fixes are easier to distribute and implement so the user base is up to date"
And finally in answer to Microsoft providing software in the future on the Linux front (which makes for lateral thinking really doesn't it); "We do not anticipate offering software on Linux," said Ballmer. "Nobody pays for software on Linux." Even StarOffice, sold by Sun, was originally a free product, he said. And IBM, arguably the No. 1 player in the Linux market, promotes Linux to big users, but does not actually sell Linux: "It's weird. IBM says 'Hey British Aerospace! Buy Linux...from SuSE."
Personally I think MS need to increase this MVP program to a larger audience as at present a community of 1,200 isn't going to prevent or reduce a community of a much larger scale. They raised some good points on security and they are right, but that doesn't count to a decent excuse for everything... Microsoft can be secure, hell yes.. its just most people don't know the way to do it and how many people openly know about such resources as MSDN and Technet?
If Microsoft were to open source their software to a much larger audience, welcome more people in the beta programs (which admitidly with Windows.NET Server 2003 RC1 it has become publically available - if you have a vaid reason and its a 365 day evaluation, I'm impressed with it and its the best release of Windows I've got) and listen more to customers, then they can strive foward... its time to stop avoiding the issue and recognise that Linux means business and learn from each others software to ultimately provide the user a fast, secure, reliable and fully compatible system for years to come
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Comments
That's all well and good but has anyone read anything about this:
News story on future microsoft product
seems to me they're currently loading the shotgun of their demise.... scary stuff.
It won't matter about community spirit amongst developers if no one buys their product.
AOL Keyword: Microsoft Sucks
Extrapolating not too far - The RIAA & MPAA will be lobbying to have software/hardware that does not conform to this standard made illegal.
This ones been brewing for a while and most people are totally unaware.
At Lancaster Uni, which is a MS partner (ooo, I feel all dirty and soiled for admitting that), we got a full listing of the pre-release source for Windows 2000, which postgraduates, and a few undergraduates (including me) got to have a play with. In classic MS fashion, they required that we compiled the whole system ourself, instead of just providing a beta cd with all the code. It took 6 hours to compile the whole thing. Sigh.
As far as Palladium is concerned, it's something that I have a serious problem with. I don't mind the WPA system in Win XP, that's fair enough (to an extent), but I have a problem with others deciding what I can and can't run and install on my system (beyond arbitrary issues such as compatibility). As a developer, and trying to look beyond the paranoia that always comes with these news releases, I think there is a danger of small developers (like me) being shut out of future OS's because, to take a contemporary example, they couldn't afford a Microsoft (or VeriSign, or whatever) certificate for their app (last I checked, digital certs cost about $350 US). To sum up my opinion, I think this quote from Jurassic Park goes best "...they were so obsessed with whether or not they could that they didn't even stop to think if they should".
CD
that with them publically posting bug fixes can promote attacks as users don't update their software fast enough
Mr balmer advocating security by obscurity.... theres a shock.
On this, have any of you ever read N stephonsons essay "in the begining was there was the command line" . Its a pretty good read about the history, motivation and reasoning behind OS developments.
And it comes with a nice analogy equating OS vendors to car salesmen.
If you're interested (and at least a few of you should be) look here
http://www.spack.org/words/commandline.html