(Credit:
Microsoft)
Microsoft, long the bastion of proprietary thought, is increasingly adding open-source DNA to the fold. And it's adding to its roster of open-source veterans: Dick Hardt, founder and CEO of Sxip Identity and ActiveState, announced on his blog earlier this week that he will be joining Microsoft:
I will have the title Partner Architect and will be working on consumer, enterprise and government identity problems. My open source, open web and digital community experience will continue to guide my thinking. For me, this is an opportunity to work on the identity problems I have been toiling over for the last six years, but now with massive resources.
Hardt insists that this isn't a sell-out move (He likely doesn't need the money, having sold ActiveState to Sophos a few years back), arguing that he "was recruited to Microsoft because (he is) an independent thinker." He's probably right. Microsoft has been seeking to bring more contrarian outside counsel into the company in the past year or two. The fact that Hardt won't "fit right in" is probably a big selling point to his hiring manager.
As noted above, Hardt won't be alone. Microsoft now employs Bill Hilf, former Linux technical strategist for IBM; Sam Ramji, a former executive at Ofoto which was a heavy user of open source; Bob Duffner, another IBMer who worked with its open-source Gluecode acquisition; Rob Conery, founder of MPL-licensed SubSonic; Tom Hanrahan, former technical lead at the Linux Foundation; Daniel Robbins, former chief architect of Gentoo Linux; and more.
It's a clear trend, though clearly these hires constitute a tiny minority of total Microsoft employees. Even so, "a little leaven leavens the whole lump," to quote Paul's words to the Galatians. Here's hoping that Hardt and the others will continue to make headway within Microsoft on open-source issues.
News on Hardt first found via Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet.
I read with interest this account of the Microsoft Platform Strategy Group's efforts to steer the Redmond giant toward a more conciliatory approach to open source. One paragraph, in particular, struck me (emphasis added):
[Microsoft senior director Bob Duffner] stressed that Microsoft by no means wants to promote the use of open-source software to its customers, and still thinks its own software is superior. However, embracing open source is about giving customers and developers the chance to make their own decisions about which software to buy, and making sure both Microsoft and open-source software can be part of the same buying decision, Duffner said.
Perhaps someone should remind Duffner that by promoting its own software to customers, Microsoft already is promoting open-source software, since open source has long been included in its proprietary offerings, a trend that is increasing. (Duffner knows this, of course - he has a deep background in open source. I suspect his comment was designed to placate internal Microsoft factions more than to convey any information to customers.)
Not that customers are fooled. Forrester Research recently surveyed a range of enterprises and uncovered an overwhelming understanding among IT buyers that proprietary offerings have open source inside. So, to Duffner's point, Microsoft and open-source software already are part of the same buying decision, both in terms of separate products and in terms of Microsoft's own products.
Kudos to Duffer, Sam Ramji, and others on the Microsoft open-source team that are preaching this open-source gospel to the Microsofties. It seems to be sinking in.
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