Microsoft Takes .NET Open Source

[FunkyDexter]

this isn't really open sourcing at all

I think there's two separate issues: 1. switching from express to community and 2. open sourcing.

I'm pretty comfortable with my stated position on the first. I think it's just marketting speak. From what folks have said in this thread I think the only real difference is increased convenience. Extension Support, stand alone class libraries etc were all things you could live without if you were a small developer and you probably did if it saved you shelling out for a licence. I think think MS offering some of that stuff for free is great but I don't see it as a fundamental shift in their position.

The open sourcing issue is more interesting becuase it does look like a fundamental shift but, as yet, I'm not taking any of the articles about it particularly seriously. There's always an army of pundits on hand to tell you that every move MS makes is the inevitable final nail in their coffin just as there's a similar army of pundits on hand to tell you that it's the next big thing and will shine a coming dawn on all things Bill. I don't see it as them divesting themselves of ongoing development of the language though as, apart from anything, they're not accepting updates to any of it. So any future advances will either come from MS themselves or they're going to have to take a step further into open sourcing.

Why are they opening it up to read? I can't see a single killer reason. My guess is that they feel their intellectual property is safe enough even if it's freely visible (it's kind of like the debates on VB6 vs VB.Net in that regard) and it does offer some benefits. It means advanced developers can delve right down into the core if they need to. It means there's an increased chance of some open source project picking up the cross platform ball and running with it (though I personally doubt it and I suspect MS probably doubt it too). And it paints MS as a caring, sharing member of the development community, whether they actually are or not.