NEWS
The head of Microsoft's open source business has offered help to get Firefox to work with the upcoming Vista operating system but it remains to be seen if Mozilla and the open source community will respond positively to the gesture.
Sam Ramji, director of Microsoft's open source software lab, posted an open invitation to work with Microsoft on a Mozilla development discussion group on Monday.
Ramji wrote: "I'm writing to see if you are open to some 1:1 support in getting Firefox and Thunderbird to run on Vista."
He stressed Microsoft is "committed to evolving our thinking beyond commercial companies to include open source projects" in the Vista project.
Ramji was also anxious that Mozilla and the open source community should not take the offer lightly. He stressed his contribution to Vista is the "non-trivial effort of getting slots for non-commercial open source projects".
The early signs from the open source community are that some are suspicious of Microsoft's motives.
But others said Monday's offer is a sign Microsoft is changing. The company has finally realised "ultimately… proprietary technologies will always get replaced by an industry-supported, open-standard alternative, hence the embrace of RSS, Open Source Lab, XML and royalty-free access to Open XML", posted one enthusiast on the Ars Technica website.
Firefox already runs successfully on existing Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. Testing by silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK found it also runs well in Vista beta 2, so it's not clear why Mozilla would need help from Microsoft.
However, the Vista Readiness Labs does include use of Microsoft's Application Compatibility Toolkit, which tests more of a product than might be explored during normal use.
Mozilla Europe said it is "too early to comment" on Microsoft's offer.
Colin Barker writes for ZDNet UK
Comments
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1. anonymous
Thunderbird and Firefox worked just fine on my computers running Vista Beta 2. It was problems with most other programs and the I.E. version that came with Vista that caused me to revert to XP sp 2 and Linux Mepis.
signed: a Veteran from Pennsylvania.
2. I'm Guessing
Why does it feel like Microsoft is trying to sell me a used car that someone was driving in New Orleans, before Hurricane Katrina hit? Firefox has worked just fine without Microsoft’s help up until this point, so what is the problem? Wait a minute, I just answered my own question. My bad.
I’m sure Mozilla & the Open Source community would love some help dumbing down their software to Microsoft’s sub-standards. Why put out good software for free, when you can put out average stuff and make billions.
For some reason I just can’t the get the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale out of my head when thinking about Microsoft’s “offer”. Maybe Microsoft’s intents are genuine. Maybe they really do want to help. Maybe.
If it was me, I would cover all my bases. Politely listen to what Microsoft has to say. Offer them as little as possible about the future direction of your products. Reveal nothing that can come back to bite you. Sincerely shake their hands, and after they are out of eyesight, count your fingers, just in case.
I’m Guessing
http://imguessingblog.blogspot.com
imguessingblog@gmail.com
3. Joe Walker
Nice one M$. Best way to take the light, heat and passion out of the opposition is to become buddies. Nothing like distracting the focus to allow you to throw more money and troops to dominate the market once more...
4. Roger Ash
It would make more sense if MS were requesting the help of the open source community to improve their own software