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Microsoft exec calls open source a threat to innovation
By Bloomberg News
February 15, 2001, 11:00 a.m. PT
video
The result will be the demise of both intellectual property rights and the
incentive to spend on
research and development, Microsoft Windows
operating-system chief Jim Allchin said this week.
Microsoft has told U.S. lawmakers of its concern while discussing protection
of intellectual
property rights.
Linux is
developed in a so-called open-source environment in which
the software code generally isn't owned by any one
company. That,
as well as programs such as music-sharing software
from Napster,
means the world's largest software maker has to do a
better job
of talking to policymakers, Allchin said.
''Open source is an intellectual-property
destroyer,'' Allchin said. ''I
can't imagine something that could be worse than
this for the software
business and the intellectual-property
business.''
Microsoft distributes some of its programs without
charge to
customers, although it generally doesn't release its
programming
code and it retains the ownership rights to that
code. Linux is the
most widely known open-source product, though other
programs
including the popular Apache system for Web servers
also
are developed the same way.
Brian Behlendorf, founder of open-source company CollabNet, said most
companies that use the
open-source development model do retain the rights to some of their
intellectual property.
''I think Microsoft is trying to paint the open-source community as being
fascist; that all software
has to be free, or none of it can be,'' said Behlendorf, whose company
helps businesses run their own
open-source projects.
Allchin said he's concerned that the open-source business model could
stifle initiative in the
computer industry.
''I'm an American, I believe in the American Way,'' he said. ''I worry if
the government encourages
open source, and I don't think we've done enough education of policymakers
to understand the
threat.''
Some leading computer companies including IBM and
Hewlett-Packard are selling Linux-based products and working on
open-source projects, noted
Jeremy Allison, a VA Linux Systems software developer.
Linux is the fastest-growing operating system program for running server
computers, according to
market researcher IDC. Linux accounted for 27 percent of unit shipments of
server operating systems in 2000.
Microsoft's Windows was the most popular on that basis, with 41 percent.
Despite Linux's success in some markets, Allchin said he isn't concerned
about sales competition
from the product. Microsoft provides support to change and develop
products based on its operating
system software that Linux companies don't, he said. Companies that use
Linux in their products
then must pay someone else for support, he said.
"We can build a better product than Linux," he said. "There is always
something enamoring about
thinking you can get something for free."
Copyright 2001, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights
Reserved. |
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