Microsoft getting open source religion in the Philippines?
Just what is an satellite open-source network lab? And why have it in the Philippines? Whatever it means, and whatever the reason, it's apparently coming soon to a Manilla near you.
It sounds like a small-scale edition of Bill Hilf's Linux interoperability lab in Redmond. It is designed to provide a place to test interoperability of Microsoft's products with open-source projects. (Hint: There is another lab for this. It's called the web. It "employs" open-source developers who do this all...for free!)
But maybe this satellite will be different. Perhaps native Filipinos will take turns imitating Bill? I'll move to the Philippines if I can get a job doing that. :-)
If I moved there, though, would I have to drink Microsoft's Kool-Aid like the Microsoft Philippines country manager has? He says:
We really don't compete with the open source development and the licensing process. Competition is with open source products.
Keep telling yourselves that. Comfy, isn't it? It's just not true.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
