

One more way MS will engage with the open source and standards communities - tilt
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/interoperability/archive/2012/04/12/announcing-one-more-way-microsoft-will-engage-with-the-open-source-and-standards-communities.aspx

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casca
It's really easy to bash Microsoft based on their history of interaction with
the OSS community - remember Embrace, Extend, Extinguish? However it is no
longer 1999 and the environment has changed. Microsoft is no longer the Great
Satan that everyone is scared will dominate everything. They'll act in ways
that further their world view and bottom line (primarily Windows and Office)
and if that means genuine engagement, they'll do it.

There are plenty of people within Microsoft who would love to be in this
space. Endorsement (if that's what this is) could unleash a swarm of smart
people working on hard problems for the benefit of all. And it could just be
another marketing stunt.

~~~
aptwebapps
It may not be 1999 but what about the whole OOXML thing? That's the first
thing that springs to my mind when Microsoft talks about standards committees.
I'm sure there are a lot of nice people working there, but I'm not going to
hold my breath.

~~~
Karellen
Yup, I note that that announcement mentions OASIS twice - the company that MS
found very helpful to get OOXML rubber-stamped and fast-tracked into ISO. I
think we should be vigilant for that tactic being used again...

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jroseattle
It's not a popular thing to say, but I think it's time to cut MS some slack.
This announcement isn't actually all that surprising, given previous ones in
the last few years.

Remember, this is a company whose CEO called Linux cancer. Think about the
internal change that has to come about at MS in order for things like this to
see the light of day.

What this announcement amounts to is anyone's guess, and it may go nowhere,
but they're trying to participate in a meaningful way. They should be given
_some_ credit for taking those steps.

~~~
bad_user
If you ever worked in a big company, you should realize that this is pure and
absolutely meaningless marketing.

Not only that, but this announcement is by itself absolutely content-free. If
they announced that they'll port .NET to Linux, or open-source it completely,
now that would have been an announcement worth sharing, because code talks,
bullshit walks and unfortunately for them they have a long history of
enforcing their monopoly, breaking standards and fighting against open-source
and the open web and so they can't be forgiven that easily, not as long as
Ballmer is still their CEO.

To their credit, they did release some cool stuff as open-source, like the F#
compiler, or ASP.NET MVC and I hope this trend continues. However, marketing-
fluff like this is meaningless.

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inlined
As a former Microsoft employee, the only words that come to mind are "IT'S A
TRAP!"

~~~
skrebbel
I really wonder how you see that. They're going to make a Microsoft-version of
Joomla that doesn't work with the popular plugins?

These are different times. All technologies listed in the article are server
tech, not end-user stuff (with the possible exception of Linux, but really
Linux is only a competitor to Windows Server, and not to the desktop
editions).

I doubt EEE will work as well in the server space; it feels more like a way to
save Windows Server from losing market share in the wake of hyped tech like
Mongo and Node.js. If they try to extend and extinguish such tools, people
will move their apps to Linux.

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pippy
I'm highly suspect of this motive. It seems like first stage of EEE.

It's odd they're putting emphasis on standardization of HTML5, when their
latest browser is two years behind. Their HTTP 2.0 initiatives just seems like
an attempt to retard Google's SPDY protocol.

~~~
manojlds
Latest browser is IE10 and it might be behind ( but definitely not 2 years ),
but think about how behind IE really was and how far it has come.

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halayli
Open up your protocols first.

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jejones3141
Sorry... I can't help seeing "infiltrate" rather than "engage with".

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veneratio
Now this is a very good thing. Any effort is at least a start, and they can't
really make their relationship any worse.

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ZeroGravitas
I'm genuinely intrigued to know why working with open source and standards
requires you to set up a separate company. That's got to be some crazy
internal politics.

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darasen
Reading the article it seems that the primary objective is to get the open
source community behind Windows 8 and the windows phone.

"..work with the PhoneGap/Cordova and jQuery Mobile and other open source
communities to support Windows Phone.."

Seems to be a rather one way street to me. When they stop claiming the rights
to Linux and perhaps make Silverlight work in Linux I may believe they support
open source.

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excuse-me
I am really excited to be able to share with you today that the Empire has
announced a new wholly owned subsidiary known as "Death Star Fluffy Ewoks" ,
to advance the company’s investment in being nice to Ewoks.

Here is a picture of Darth Vader in a pink jumper to show that we are now nice
and friendly

