Darren O'Neill
Friend of Playgroup
- Loves: Liverpool FC, Gaming, Films
- Hates: Go karting, People who say "Interweb", Onions
- Inspired by:
- Hong Kong
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Christopher Lee
- My links:
Beware of geeks bearing gifts
The BBC is reporting that Microsoft is attempting to become advocates of open source software, specifically the software that powers web servers across the world. It seems Microsoft have paid a hefty sum (well not so hefty for them) to become a platinum sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation. Apache software powers more web servers than any other, including Microsoft's own IIS. Microsoft also announced they will provide patches for software such as PHP.
Let's hope that this development on Microsoft's part is a genuine attempt to improve open source software for all. I find it hard to take seriously though, especially when they are continually fined for anti-competitive behaviour and threaten to sue the Linux community for stealing their ideas.
Time will tell...
Posted by Darren on 30 Jul 08, at 7:25 pm
1 comment on this post
Microsoft seems to fight non-Microsoft standards until the writing is on the wall and then jumps in. This happened with the Internet - remember MSN as an alternative to the web? And it may be happening here, as well. It is often predicted that applications as we know them will disappear, to be replaced by web clients like the Google set - although these are still a fair way from prime time they may show us how we will be using our computers in future. Microsoft, who makes piles of cash from it's Office suite may be trying to position itself further back in the network stack so it can better keep an eye on (control?) how this develops. I am also sceptical but Microsoft has changed in the past and, as I watch the porcine flock go past my window, it may be changing here.