[NTLUG:Discuss] Microsoft owns FreeBSD

[Chris Cox]

Ok...I admit the subject line is a huge spin.

Simply put, the BSD license allows commercial entities to
"embrace and extend" for free.  While I'm sure that
the BSD community "believes" that they will get some
credit for MS's use of their code... nothing could
be further from the truth.  The truth is that BSD
is giving MS the ability to advance for free.
Now... this is of course what free software is really
all about, but realize that MS does not GIVE away
any portion of their OS... despite its free underpinnings.
And realize that MS is free to "bash" (excuse the pun)
free software openly even though the stability of
their OS depends upon it.  That may sound self-destructive,
but again, MS in only interested in being the ONLY
alternative.... I really do not think they are interested
in the progression of the technologies they have
acquired for free.

Read:
http://public.wsj.com/news/hmc/sb992819157437237260.htm

At the end of the article... last paragraph says:
> In its campaign against open-source, Microsoft has been
> unable to come up with examples of companies being
> harmed by it. One reason, said Eric von Hippel, a
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who
> heads up a research effort in the field, is that virtually all
> the available evidence suggests that open source is "a huge
> advantage" to companies. "They are able to build on a
> common standard that is not owned by anyone," he said.
> "With Windows, Microsoft owns them."