promises

Microsoft opens up its Open Specification Promise

Steve Ballmer may not have anything better to say than "blah" and "Google" in his analyst meetings, but his open-source group came up with a doozy today.

The flawed Open Specification Promise (OSP) just became whole. Or close to it. Microsoft has opened up its Open Specification Promise to make it meaningful and usable to a wider group of people. Even Groklaw, which sets a high (and generally fair) bar for Microsoft is impressed.

Microsoft's OSP has been controversial in part because it's basic covenant not to sue developers was crippled by its application only to noncommercial developers, as well as other ambiguities that have been resolved. With this update to the OSP, this restriction is gone, as Sam Ramji, Director of Microsoft's Open Source Software Lab, confirmed:

Microsoft is putting a wide range of protocols that were formerly in the Communications Protocol Program under the Open Specification Promise (OSP). This guarantees their freedom from any patent claims from Microsoft now or in the future, and includes both Microsoft-developed and industry-developed protocols.… Read more

Red Hat responds to Microsoft's interoperability pledge

Michael Cunningham, general counsel for Red Hat, has posted a response to Microsoft's pledge to greater transparency. Let's just say that Michael isn't overly impressed. Not until he sees more of a tangible commitment to transparency:

Eight years ago the U.S. regulatory authorities, and four years ago the European regulators made clear to Microsoft that its refusal to disclose interface information for its monopoly software products violates the law. So, it is hardly surprising to see even Microsoft state today that "interoperability across systems is an important requirement" and announce a "change in [its] approach to interoperability."… Read more

Microsoft adds its Office file formats to the Open Specification Promise

Microsoft has given the open-source community a belated Valentine's Day present by adding its Office file formats (.xls, .doc, and .ppt) to the Open Specification Promise. It also added information on patent/copyright coverage and information on how OSP interacts with GPL-based software development. (You can see what the site looked like before the changes using the Wayback Machine.)

Good for you, Microsoft.

No, Microsoft wasn't motivated by peace, love, and Linux. Rather, the contribution of the binaries is focused on getting OOXML approved:… Read more

Lenovo's Olympic USB drive is well short of a 10

In trying to milk its Olympics marketing campaign for all it's worth, Lenovo has proven that successful designs can't just be slapped on any product of any size or shape. And that's a shame because the "Cloud of Promise" theme was nothing short of stunning when unveiled for the Beijing Olympics torch, but it quickly loses its dramatic visual effect when applied elsewhere.

The distinctive swirls may have made an acceptable accent on Lenovo's limited-edition laptops, but its latest appearance--on a USB flash drive--is downright cheesy. In an unforgiving close-up image first seen … Read more

Olympic laptops headed for auction

There's good news and bad news if you've been dying to get one of those "Cloud of Promise" laptops commemorating the Beijing Olympics, bearing the unique design created for the Olympic torch.

The good news is that some of them will be available through charity auctions benefiting the Lenovo Hope Fund, which is dedicated to sports for children, and many will be autographed by athletes. The bad news is that they won't go on sale until February 8 next year, six months before the summer games begin, according to Tech Digest.

But if you simply … Read more