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Microsoft reacts to fear of Linux
Speaking in New York today, Craig Mundie senior VP at Microsoft, explained to an audience at the Stern Business school that it will be revealing the source code of an increased number of Microsoft products.

By Kate Hanaghan

Published: Thursday 03 May 2001

This does not mean that more lines of code will be available to developers and partners, but merely that a greater number of these people will have access to a greater number of products, including .NET.

However, William Knottenbelt, a lecturer at Imperial College, said Microsoft needs to realise that the only way to make a product that people really trust is to reveal more code. He claimed problems such as the hole recently found on the Microsoft web server would be spotted sooner. He said: "You can't just rely on your own people."

The cynical among us would describe the move as Microsoft craving the best of both worlds - avoiding the risks associated with the open-source model while casting the net wider to drain the knowledge of an increased number of developers. However, Gordon Smilie, director .NET calls it a "win-win situation".