Open-Source smoke screen
eWeek | at | by Mike
Between public bouts of dissing Linux, Microsoft quietly is ripping pages from the open-source playbook and taping them to its own. Examples? The most obvious is the shared-source licensing mechanism. Shared source is no GNU General Public License but does allow companies to use Windows source code if they agree to Microsoft's terms. There are other examples of Microsoft using open-source strategies.
Earlier this summer, Microsoft unveiled its ASP .Net Web Matrix "community supported" development tool, aimed at nonprofessional programmers. While Microsoft would be loath to portray its Web Matrix development/test process as akin to the open-source way, Redmond relied on partners to constructively critique daily builds.