MS again

[Tony Zafiropoulos]

In case you do not have acces to the WSJ...

Here is the Wall Street Journal Story:

Microsoft Wages Campaign
Against Using Free Software

By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY and REBECCA BUCKMAN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Sometimes it seems as if Microsoft Corp. doesn't want government to save
money -- at least not if it comes by using free software.

Microsoft is waging a major lobbying and public-policy campaign to stop
government agencies in the U.S. and abroad from embracing free,
"open-source" software, especially the Linux operating system, which poses
a growing threat to Microsoft's Windows.

In the past year it has argued with the Defense Department over the
content of a report extolling free software. It has organized a world-wide
lobby to oppose laws that mandate using open-source software. It has
persuaded some congressmen to ask the new Office of Homeland Security not
to fund research that uses certain open software.

But even Microsoft is having a tough time persuading governments from
Washington to South Africa that getting software free is a bad thing --
especially when rivals like International Business Machines Corp. are
telling them that open-source software works just fine.

Open-source software is software whose source code, or base layer of
commands, usually can be copied freely and then modified, unlike most
proprietary software, which is generally controlled by a profit-making
company. It is championed by a far-flung community of programmers,
researchers and companies who share their work over the
Internet. Open-source software has grown in recent years to become a
full-fledged rival to Microsoft, used by companies, universities and
others in their computer rooms. Many open-source programs are free, or
nearly so.

The best known open-source software, Linux, increasingly is being embraced
by computer companies including IBM, Dell Computer Corp. and
Hewlett-Packard Co. as a way to sell more hardware and services. According
to International Data Corp., a technology-research firm, sales of server
computers that use Linux grew 6% in the most recent four quarters, while
sales of Windows-based servers grew just 1% in revenue.
[freeware]

Microsoft says it isn't against the concept of open-source software. But
it is working hard to prevent government researchers from adopting
software covered by the general public license, or GPL, that governs reuse
of much open-source software, including Linux. The GPL requires anyone who
copies the software to freely share any improvements or additions they
make to the code.

Because commercial companies often adapt programs written by
government-funded university scientists, Microsoft argues that wider use
of GPL-licensed software would stifle innovation. Commercial companies, it
argues, would have no incentive to sell "free" software derived from the
research. What's more, Microsoft worries that its own developers could
inadvertently combine Linux or other GPL-licensed programs with Microsoft
programs, which could potentially make the Microsoft programs subject to
free-sharing as well.

"The GPL, in my view, is bad in all its dimensions," says Jim Allchin, the
Microsoft group vice president who heads the powerful Windows group.

In some cases, Microsoft has leaned on government agencies directly. The
U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency, an arm of the Defense Department,
says that last spring it granted a Microsoft request for an exclusive
advance look at a report by research firm Mitre Corp., Bedford, Mass., on
Pentagon use of open-source software.

After Ira Rubinstein, a Microsoft lawyer, detailed Microsoft's objections,
Dawn Meyerrick, chief technology officer at the agency, says she asked
Mitre to make changes in the report. Among them, it dropped the conclusion
that open-source software was more secure, and it added cautionary words
about the GPL.

Open-software advocates also perceived Microsoft's influence in a letter
from a group of congressmen to Richard Clarke, who heads cyberspace
security for the newly created federal Office of Homeland Security. The
initial letter urged the government to continue past practices by
"explicitly rejecting licenses that would prevent or discourage commercial
adoption" of software developed under federal contracts.

But as the letter was being circulated, Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington
Democrat -- who receives the most donations of any representative from
Microsoft's political action committee -- added a "Dear Colleague" letter
to further explicate the original. That letter said that "licenses such as
the General Public License (GPL) are problematic and threaten to undermine
innovation and security," and suggested such open-source software
shouldn't be developed by the government at all.

That echoed Microsoft's position. A Microsoft spokesman acknowledges that
Rep. Smith met with its chief technology officer, Craig Mundie, before the
letter was sent, but only for "informational" purposes. Mr. Smith's press
secretary says that the "dear colleague" letter was meant to clarify the
original because "we believe in innovation."

Open-source fans believe Microsoft is bringing its political power to bear
because it sees a market threat to its desktop-software monopoly. But in
some cases, Microsoft's appeals have fallen on deaf ears. Last year,
according to people familiar with the situation, Microsoft objected
"vigorously" when the super-secret National Security Agency developed a
secure version of Linux and then posted it on the NSA Web site for anyone
to download. But NSA didn't back down and the software is still available.

In the developing world, where free software like Linux may have its
greatest appeal, Linux advocates say they have "noticed that Microsoft has
made a substantial portion of their quote 'gifts' to developing nations
that have indicated a strong preference for open-source software," says
Mark Webbink, general counsel of Red Hat Inc., a Raleigh, N.C., company
that sells versions of Linux.

In India, where at least one state government endorsed Linux recently,
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates last month announced a $400 million gift of
donated software and business-development aid.

In South Africa, a Microsoft offer to provide software for 32,000 schools
came just days after that country's National Advisory Council on
Innovation called for the government to adopt open-source software to
build local programming skills and avoid sending hard currency to the
U.S. to pay for Windows. Nhlanhla Mabaso, a government chief information
officer, says that while the free software from Microsoft is tempting,
"Personally, I believe this is not good for South Africa."

Bradford Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, says any donations "are made
to meet a social need" and not to counter Linux.

Microsoft concedes that its opposition to open-source software has
sometimes backfired, and it says it intends to move the battle to more
straightforward commercial issues.

Earlier this month, Microsoft released a survey that it commissioned from
tech researcher IDC that compared the total cost of running a Linux server
to a Windows 2000 server over five years for five common tasks. It found
Windows was 10% or more cheaper in four of the five applications, due to
better software tools for maintaining and fixing problems. Microsoft says
that the initial purchase is usually only 5% of the total cost of owning
and maintaining a program, with most of the costs tied to the computer
technicians who install and keep it running.

Write to William M. Bulkeley at bill.bulkeley at wsj.com and Rebecca Buckman
at rebecca.buckman at wsj.com

Updated December 9, 2002 12:37 a.m. EST

-- 
Tony Zafiropoulos
FixMyVirus.com
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