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Open Source On (And) Windows: Radhesh Balakrishnan
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Radhesh Balakrishnan, director, platform strategy, Microsoft India, shares with us Microsoft's initiatives in open source domain. Let's see where it is willing to bend and where it is going to compete!
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Friday, December 21, 2007:
ET: We are noticing a change in Microsoft's approach, now the company has started talking about (not against) open source, what led to this change?
RB: Microsoft’s approach toward open source is centered around a customer-centric view. Given the growing heterogeneity in IT environment in today’s enterprises, customers are increasingly seeing the need for interoperability between platforms. So while customers will make investments in platforms based on individual requirements, it is up to the IT vendors to show maturity and ensure that the customers have a seamless experience, irrespective of which platforms they have invested in. Microsoft takes this customer need very seriously. So while we compete with commercialised Open Source Solutions (OSS) on value to win customers, we also collaborate with the OSS Community to help effectively address the interoperability needs of our customers.
To this end, we are reaching out to the OSS community and are focussed on enabling development of OSS applications on the Windows Platform. To-date, developers have created more than 79,000 open source applications using Microsoft platform technologies - these are available on Sourceforge.net and Codeplex.com repositories. Similarly, many companies who have chosen to build businesses around open source software are working with Microsoft to deliver value to our shared customers, including SugarCRM, MySQL, Novell, JBoss, Zend, XenSource, Sun Microsystems, Mozilla, Aras, SpikeSource, and Xorp.
So, our approach is all about customers and what they want.
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ET:While Microsoft has a soft corner for open source, it keeps itself at a distance from Linux, how long will MS stay away from Linux? Past stand against open source says MS might re-consider this, so when will this distance be gapped?
RB: On the contrary, we have taken several initiatives to ensure interoperability with Linux given the need of the customers today. In 2006, Microsoft signed an agreement with Novell to ensure improved interoperability and manageability between Windows and Linux in four areas: virtualisation, systems management, directory integration and identity, and office documents formats.
Under the agreement, Microsoft officially recommends SUSE Linux Enterprise for customers who want Windows and Linux solutions. Additionally, Microsoft distributes coupons for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server maintenance and support, so that customers can benefit from the use of an interoperable version of Linux with patent coverage as well as the collaborative work between the two companies. Customers not only benefit from the tangible results of this Technical Collaboration Agreement (TCA), but also from an assurance, secured through a legal covenant, that they are not subject to patent assertion by either company.
Recently, in September 2007, Frost & Sullivan concluded a series of closed-door round-table discussions titled ‘Re-exploring Interoperability’ between Novell and Microsoft and a group of very select CTOs and CIOs. The discussion focused on understanding the interoperability issues which customers face in India and the incentives they look forward to from vendors to facilitate interoperability.
In fact, Microsoft has been recently awarded the prestigious Frost and Sullivan award for Industry Innovation & Advancement (System Interoperability) – the first ever award given away by the analyst group. Microsoft has been recognized along with Novell for consistent efforts towards Interoperability of Proprietary and Open source systems benefiting scores of customers with heterogeneous environments.
ET: Linux is a competing platform, so is Apple. But Microsoft has several products for Mac platform, (except recently launched Silverlight) why not for Linux. It must be noticed that Linux users are much more in numbers than Apple users, so demand couldn't be quoted as an issue?
RB: The critical aspects to look at are levels of market adoption and commonality of needs across multiple customer that an application can help address. If you look at the server space, customers are demanding ability to virtualise. We’re supporting multiple Linux distributions from Red Hat and Novell, which represent two of the most widely used commercial Linux distributions. We support Linux running as a guest in Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 from both a technology perspective and a 24-hour technical support perspective. With SUSE Linux Enterprise, customers will be able to run virtualised Linux on Windows or virtualised Windows on Linux.
Microsoft will also work with Novell to deliver Silverlight support for Linux, called Moonlight. Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering richer user experiences on the Web.
ET: Now, we have been hearing a lot about interoperability. What according to you is Interoperability and what is the pressing need for bringing it in?
RB: In today’s connected world, interoperability is as important as security. The increasing technological heterogeneity within enterprises drives more complexity within organisation and this leads to greater demand for data and information integration as organisations seek to optimise process performance.
We believe that at its core, interoperability is connecting people, data, and diverse systems. It has two categories –
1. Technical interoperability – that Microsoft achieves through four key pillars products, community, access and standards. Subject to a company’s business model a vendor emphasise one or more pillars to a greater or lesser degree than the others.
2. People interoperability – that encompasses the less tangible and often more complex issues of semantic (the 'meaning' of data), organisational, and legal/policy interoperability and it is more complex.
We’re committed to delivering Interoperability by Design through our products, collaborations with the community, access to our technologies and industry standards. By that, we mean - Microsoft products are engineered to be easy to use and broadly interoperable with other applications and technology platforms right out of the box. Microsoft works with customers, partners, and competitors to develop technologies that meet shared interoperability needs and promote the development of the IT industry as a whole. Microsoft enables others to build compelling technologies and commercial success by providing access to Microsoft innovations and intellectual property. And we actively engage with standards-setting organisations and support thousands of technical and industry standards that encourage interoperability between Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies.
ET: What future Microsoft sees in Open Source?
RB: We clearly see Windows being the targeted platform for more and more open source applications. And as mentioned before, we are reaching out to the community to help accelerate that.
In addition, while we will compete with commercialised OSS solutions based on value to win customers, we see tremendous opportunity for collaboration with OSS vendors and community to address customers’ pressing needs around interoperability.
ET: What kind of initiatives Microsoft has taken in India to get students involve in Open Source technologies?
RB: There are two key initiatives that we are running in India. Under the Open Source Technology Program, we have signed MoUs with IIT-Kanpur, IIT Guwahati, IIIT Hyderabad and IIIT Bangalore to encourage students to develop interoperable solutions suited to work in a heterogeneous environment and encourage a community development model and enable students to develop Open Source solutions on the Windows Platform. We are also offering research grants of Rs 1,00,000–2,50,000 per project, which will include a stipend, and other basic assistance.
We also launched Scholar Versus Scholar Program in 2006, which is a comprehensive Student Awards and Faculty Research grant program focused on development of open source applications in the area of High Performance Computing on the Windows platform by students in engineering institutions. Over 250 institutions have participated in this program among which the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar and BITS –Pilani – have recently won recognition.
ET: What strategies Microsoft has to 'promote' Open Source?
RB: We believe multiple platforms can and will continue to co–exist, and that customers will choose those options or combination of options that suit their needs best. We believe that we should be able to deliver seamless experiences even in such heterogeneous scenarios. So we engage with the open source community through industry collaboration as well as open source development, i.e. promoting interoperability with open source software through engagements organised by the Microsoft Open Source Software Lab and on the Microsoft community Web site, Port25.
Further, we are supporting several open source projects on CodePlex, GotDotNet, and SourceForge and offering access to Microsoft source code through programs such as the Shared Source Initiative (SSI) and the Government Security Program (GSP).
Our Open Source Technology Program is another initiative designed to further open source research and development of open source applications on the Windows platform in collaboration with leading national engineering institutes in the country.
ET: India produces engineering students in mass. What career opportunities do you see for those students who are also equipped with Open Source technologies?
RB: There are about 200,000 Indian developers working on .NET and more than 100,000 Indian students trained on .NET today - the highest in the world. But with growing interoperability needs in the Indian IT environment it is but natural that those trained on Windows and also exposed to multiple platforms will stand better growth opportunities. However, in today’s scenario we believe that on the job training to this end will be more useful than pre-employment training.
ET:What contribution do you see from India in open source technologies?
RB: India has the 2nd largest developer base, Microsoft’s tools can help build solutions on Windows that can be open source. We have started the journey on our engagement with community with the Open Source Technology Program and we hope to see good OSS projects on Codeplex from India in the coming months.
ET: Will there ever be an Open Source Windows OS ;-)?
RB: In fact, in 2001, Microsoft launched the Shared Source Initiative, expanding its long-standing efforts to make Windows source code more transparent to industry partners and customers. Shared Source initiative is a Microsoft licensing framework that is designed to enable increased customer and developer community access to Microsoft source code, while preserving the intellectual property protections that are essential for a healthy software business ecosystem. Shared Source is a Microsoft-wide philosophy that covers a variety of Microsoft technologies and licensing programs that can be individually tailored to the diverse needs of customers and developers who require access to source code. Some of the Shared Source programs under the initiative are as follows:
The Enterprise Source Licensing Program (ESLP) is a no-cost program that licenses Microsoft Windows source code to enterprise customers and state and local government organisations in eligible geographic markets. Any organisation that meets the specified criteria—and signs the source licensing agreements may access Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating system source code.
The Government Security Program (GSP) is a crucial element of Microsoft's efforts to address the unique security requirements of governments around the world. Through the GSP, Microsoft offers participating governments zero-cost, online smart-card access to source code for the most current versions, beta releases, and service packs of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows CE, and now, Microsoft Office.
The Windows Embedded CE Shared Source program allows developers to access, debug, modify, improve and share the Windows Embedded CE Shared Source code. Additionally, OEM customers worldwide can create and redistribute commercial derivatives of the Windows Embedded CE Shared Source code for shipping in commercial devices without notifying Microsoft or sharing their derivative works with the embedded community.The source code is made available to facilitate the development and support of Windows Embedded CE-based hardware, software and devices.
Microsoft Dynamics Snap-ins, a collection of software programs that snap in to Microsoft Office, enable information workers to access and use business processes and data in Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions back-end applications using Microsoft Office programs. Source code for the snap-ins is available at no charge under the Microsoft Permissive License, enabling partners and ISVs to enhance or customise shipped solutions or build new applications using the source as an example.
Swapnil Bhartiya, EFYTIMES News Network
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