Eric Raymond says he's just about had it with Microsoft

ERIC RAYMOND writes in his bog that his "resolve to treat Microsoft like any other license submitter is being sorely tested."

Raymond is President Emeritus of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) that promulgates the Open Source Definition and has certified to date upwards of 60 software licences as compliant. Although others run OSI now, Raymond still remains involved in licence certification discussions and other OSI deliberations.

A little over a month ago, Microsoft announced that it would submit one or more of its Shared Source licences to OSI for certification. That has generated a lot of controversy within the Open Source community, with some Open Source supporters welcoming the prospect of Microsoft approaching OSI but many others regarding any move by Microsoft with deep suspicion.

Eric Raymond acknowledges that ongoing debate and allows as how it's been going on within OSI, too. However, as he writes, "OSI's official position, from the beginning, which I helped formulate and have expressed to any number of reporters and analysts, is that OSI will treat any licenses submitted [by] Microsoft strictly on their merits, without fear or favor. That remains OSI's position. But..."

He goes on, "...Microsoft's behavior in the last few months with respect to OOXML has been egregious. They haven't stopped at pushing a "standard" that is divisive, technically bogus, and an obvious tool of monopoly lock-in; they have resorted to lying, ballot-stuffing, committee-packing, and outright bribery to ram it through the ISO standardization process in ways that violate ISO's own guidelines wholesale."

Raymond views Microsoft's gaming of the ISO standards setting process to get OOXML approved as potentially damaging to ISO's reputation and future ability to function.

He writes, "If Microsoft succeeds (which is beginning to look likely) they will have not merely damaged the prospects of open-source software, they will have ruined the good name of ISO by corrupting its people and processes."

The cognitive dissonance of trying to treat Microsoft fairly throughout the OSI licence certification process - while Microsoft is turning ISO's standards process into a farce -- forces Eric Raymond to object.

He concludes, "This is not behavior that we, as a community, can live with. Despite my previous determination, I find I'm almost ready to recommend that OSI tell Microsoft to ram its licenses up one of its own orifices, even if they are technically OSD compliant. Because what good is it to conform to the letter of OSD if you're raping its spirit?" µ

See Also
Microsoft's overtures towards open source...
Microsoft cuddles up to open source