Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing

Microsoft Shared Source Initiative

Microsoft has historically wrung great profits from proprietary software licensing. Its business model, along with its substantial profit margins, is completely dependent upon licensing access to the software that it controls. In response to the growing market for open source and free software in the last 15 years, Microsoft has made clear that it has no intention of changing its approach. In fact, its public position and actions seem to signify that the company is becoming more aggressive about its licensing programs and about protecting its intellectual property through strategies such as patent procurement and litigation.

Yet, historically, Microsoft has provided at least some business partners and customers access to its source code, as well as obtained access to the source code of others for inclusion in its products, or for ensuring interoperability. New demands are also growing: as a result of open source, the developer community is increasingly used to having liberal access to whatever source code it needs to conduct business; governments and customers now expect to be able to audit the source code that makes up the products that they depend upon daily; and academics and start-ups alike understand that open source is an efficient way to conduct shared research projects. As the open source movement continues to gain steam, Microsoft, like many other software companies, has felt pressure to provide public access to its source code.

Microsoft ...