What a difference a year makes. In the case of CodePlex, Microsoft's open-source code-hosting site, a year has seen Microsoft make serious progress toward real open-source savvy. The site has more than 120,000 registered users and 7,500 projects.
I've noted for years that open source should be an opportunity for Microsoft, not a threat. Windows, for example, should be the world's biggest open-source platform, but it's not, and Microsoft has only itself to blame for this.
But perhaps the rising popularity of CodePlex can help change this. The numbers, as called out by Microsoft's Peter Galli, are impressive:
- Visits to CodePlex more than doubled in 2008 to more than 19 million;
- New registered users were up more than 70 percent to more than 66,000;
- The number of new projects more than doubled to 4,542 in 2008; and
- Microsoft refreshed the underlying CodePlex software 12 times in 2008, introducing a range of new features.
Beyond sheer statistics, however, Microsoft learned to manage open source responsibly in 2008. Microsoft progressed through fits and starts, releasing projects like Sandcastle as "open source" without actually providing the source. Microsoft's open-source team, led by Sam Ramji, however, quickly fixed the problem and has largely managed to avoid similar subsequent snafus.
In this and in other ways, Microsoft is maturing in its perspective of open source. Microsoft has struggled for years with open source's non-existent acquisition fee, but it has simultaneously grown less surly and more realistic about competing with open source.
Open source is one of Microsoft's greatest opportunities, if it would just seize it. Open source gives Microsoft (and every other vendor) an efficient, nearly friction-free method to get one's software into the hands of the widest group of potential buyers. In a recession, the company that has the most people trying its software will almost certainly be the one that has the most people buying its software.
Why not have that software run on Windows? Or tie into SQL Server? Or SharePoint? This is Microsoft's opportunity and, if CodePlex's growth is any indication, it's one that Microsoft is starting to take seriously.
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As Microsoft's Peter Galli recently noted, the open-source Web content management project DotNetNuke has moved to Microsoft's CodePlex, citing CodePlex's "reliable and dependable infrastructure, cleanest user experience, most advanced project administration tools, and highest commitment to future innovation" as its rationale.
This is the first move by a high-profile open-source project to Microsoft's open-source code hosting site. Is it a one-off example of a sell-out, or a harbinger of more movement to Microsoft's open-source site?
It's too soon to tell, but I suspect this move signals the open-source community's gradual thaw when it comes to Microsoft. Microsoft is by no means clear of suspicion, as a recent Boycott Novell post suggests, but its open-source group, at any rate, has welcomed the open-source community with open arms and open minds.
Watch this space. I think we'll see more movement of Microsoft-friendly open-source projects to CodePlex. Given that an increasing number of open-source projects fit this bill, that may well mean CodePlex is the next Google Code, and perhaps an eventual challenger to Sourceforge.
A month ago, Microsoft was called out on releasing Sandcastle as open source...without the source. Sam Ramji, Senior Director of Platform Strategy at Microsoft and one of its key open-source advocates, immediately pulled the project from Microsoft's CodePlex open-source hosting site.
One month later, Sandcastle is back up, and is fully "dressed" in open-source code. What might have passed as a simple mistake for another company was pounced on by me and others. Sam, for his part, explains that Microsoft can't afford to be treated like "another company" when it comes to open source:
Some people felt it was draconian to pull the project from CodePlex, others thought that didn't go far enough; some were upset because they loved the project and couldn't find it; some thought we were holding ourselves to a higher standard than necessary. I believe that as we continue to build our practices across the company to participate in open source development, we must strive to achieve the highest possible standards.
Some won't believe Sam on this, but I do. He, Bill Hilf, Robert Duffner, and others at Microsoft are actively trying to help the company do right by open source. I'm not naive enough to think that they'll achieve their goals anytime soon, but it's important to recognize that they're not attempting to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. These guys believe the open-source ethos.
The question is, will it be enough?
Microsoft has evolved in its stance toward open source, but its current hiccup with the Sandcastle project calls into question just how well it understands the obligations open source imposes. Microsoft created its CodePlex site to host open-source software, and has been careful to abide by open-source rules, submitting its licenses to the Open Source Initiative for approval.
Yet as Sandcastle demonstrates, Microsoft still has a long ways to go before it demonstrates that it understands and is willing to stand behind the obligations of open source. The Sandcastle project went live on January 8. Several months later, it still isn't providing source code, a key tenet of the CodePlex hosting requirements.
This isn't a matter of holding Microsoft to a third-party standard. It's a matter of holding Microsoft to its own standards. Microsoft declares CodePlex to be an open-source project hosting site:
(Credit:
Microsoft)
The CodePlex terms of use require the following conditions for CodePlex-hosted projects:
... Read moreWow. Double wow. I haven't seen Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols this worked up since, well, ever. He could almost be writing for The Register with the way he smacks around Microsoft for its top-25 (most active, mind you) open-source projects on CodePlex. It makes for very fun reading.
It doesn't, however, accurately portray the projects--there are some that actually sound useful and interesting--but I don't want a little (just a little, mind you) accuracy get in the way of a good ol' cage match between Microsoft and SJVN.
My favorite (and probably most apt) comment:
... Read more
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