![]() ![]() ![]() But some folks don't want to grok that times change, and even idealogues soften their thinking when confronted with reality. ![]() When it comes to open source, the company's been so dumb and arrogant that you have to wonder whether someone spiked the water supply in Redmond. He went out of his way to agree that the likely future of software would be marked by "multiple business models" and that the market was big enough for everyone to coexist. I think Smith got the message, though he and the rest of Redmond's top brass are still trying to figure this one out. But they want a lot more than soothing words. The pledge last month not to sue over open source and foster more interoperability was a good first step, they acknowledged. Most of the people I spoke with yesterday want Microsoft to contribute back to the open-source community in a big way. Maybe they are, but that's where the company is hard-pressed to convince the diehards. Smith repeatedly sought to persuade the audience that Microsoft's good intentions were genuine. ![]() A lot of people in the community still distrust Microsoft's motives-let alone what they dismiss as fig leaf attempts to participate in the community. Listening to the questions from audience members was instructive. And Microsoft still has its work cut out in convincing the open-source world that it's ready to bury the hatchet and repair what's been a tempestuous relationship. Open source raises all sorts of intriguing-and thorny-problems for Microsoft, which still struggles to coexist with a movement that's seemingly gaining strength by the day. Smith was sent to the conference to offer another olive branch. Still, it's clear that a big divide separating Microsoft from open-source advocates remains. In the end, it was mission accomplished, and he commanded a nice ovation from the crowd. How do you view Microsoft's relationship with the open-source ![]()
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