[kictanet] Microsoft Official Statement

[Evans Ikua]

Dear Lavinniah,
Having looked at your remarks, I want to assure you that this debate is
still very relevant and means a big deal when looked at from the larger
perspective. But its understandable when you try to trivialize the matter
so that you can still remain in the game. And the proprietary software
development model is fast being overtaken by the fast developments in
technology and is steadily approaching its death bed.

Especially regarding Microsoft's involvement with open source, I would like
to share with you (and everyone), some remarks that I came across from Jon
"maddog" Hall regarding this claim. The following is an excerpt from his
comments:

"
Microsoft and Open Source
================

Finally, I have been made aware of the claim of Microsoft that "they
support open source".  Microsoft supports open source like I support
farmers.  I need farmers to provide me with the food so I can stay
alive, but that does not mean that I actively go out and help them plow.

Microsoft's contributions as a company have been to projects in making
sure that those popular FOSS projects like PHP and Apache run on their
closed-source operating systems.  If these projects did not run well,
then Microsoft's operating systems would be even less useful.

As to their contributions to the Linux kernel, most of these were in the
areas of Virtualization, to allow Microsoft operating systems to useful
on top of a Linux Server in a virtualized environment.  Again, they are
strictly to keep Microsoft viable in the enterprise, not that Microsoft
"embraces Free Software".

I will also say that individual employees of Microsoft ARE contributors
to FOSS projects, but these are mostly volunteers, and have nothing to
do with Microsoft's business strategy or love of FOSS as a company.

Microsoft's "Focus on Interoperability" has some strange illustrations,
such as the time that Microsoft changed their JAVA implementation so it
was incompatible with the others, or the time they changed Kerberos so
it was incompatible with Kerberos from MIT (the one that every other
operating system uses), or the fight they had to try an knock out ODF as
a data format and have OOXML (their "standard") in its
place...fortunately losing on the last example.
"


On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 9:56 PM, Lavinniah Muthoni (Human Capital
Synergies) <v-lavinm at microsoft.com> wrote:

>  *Please see below Microsoft’s official company statement in response to
> the Open Source Vs Proprietary Software.*
>
> ** **
>
> The open source versus proprietary software debate is no longer relevant.
> Most customers today operate diverse environments and simply want their
> technology to work together well, hence the need to focus on
> interoperability. At Microsoft, we help customers optimize their existing
> IT infrastructure while also transitioning to new technologies. We help
> solve their interoperability challenges and find efficient and cost
> effective solutions for their mixed IT environments.****
>
> ** **
>
> Microsoft’s commitment to ‘openness’ also supports developers and
> partners. We have built close partnerships with the PHP, Apache, and Linux
> open source communities. (According to the Linux Foundation<http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2012/04/linux-foundation-releases-annual-linux-development-report>,
> Microsoft is ranked as a top contributor to Linux.) ****
>
> ** **
>
> Customers are at the heart of our approach. We enable customers to deploy
> and manage solutions in environments that integrate Microsoft and open
> source technologies. Multiple engineering teams at Microsoft actively
> participate in open source projects and share the common industry view that
> software users will continue to see a mixed IT and development environment
> for years to come****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *Kind Regards,*
>
> *Lavinniah Muthoni | Public Relations & Events Manager | Microsoft East
> and Southern Africa | Phone* +254 20 286 8245 *| Mobile* +254 735414028 *|
> Fax* +254 20 272 2999 * |* *Office* 7th Floor, I & M Bank Building, 2nd
> Ngong Avenue, Capital Hill, P.O. Box 64736, 00620 Nairobi, Kenya *| *
>
>  ****
>
> * *
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
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-- 
*----------------------------------------------------
Kind Regards,
Evans Ikua,*
lanetconsulting.com,
lpi-eastafrica.org,
ict-innovation.fossfa.net,
Skype: @ikuae
Cell: +254-722-955831
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