Microsoft: Reject Open Source Software
WinInfo | at | by Mike
The crux of Microsoft's argument against so-called free software is the GNU Public License (GPL) under which much of this software is licensed. According to the terms of the GPL, software code is freely available and any changes made to that code must also be made freely available to others. Microsoft says that these requirements can be dangerous to commercial software companies that create proprietary software where the underlying code isn't revealed to customers. Because Microsoft and other companies wouldn't be able to mix and match open source and proprietary solutions under the GPL license, there is no incentive for them to sell open source software. And if its developer inadvertently combined open source code with its proprietary code, Microsoft would be legally required to surrender the rights to its own programs.