Microsoftが支えるオープンソース団体にQ&A

ars technica:New Microsoft-backed open source foundation faces questions

Microsoft has launched the CodePlex Foundation, a nonprofit organization tasked with getting commercial software vendors to invest time on open source development. It has $1 million in seed money and some questions about how neutral it will be.

By Ryan Paul | Last updated September 11, 2009 9:38 AM CT

Microsoftは非営利団体を設立した.
商用ソフトウェアベンダをオープンソースソフトウェア開発に参加させることが目的だ.
Microsoftは資本金百万ドルを投じて,このCodePlex Foundationを設立した.

Microsoft has launched a nonprofit organization with the aim of encouraging commercial software vendors to participate in open source software development. Microsoft has provided the organization, which is called the CodePlex Foundation, with $1 million in funding to get it started.

この動きは,Microsoftの特許問題にも話が及び,
Linux FoundationのエグゼクティヴはMicrosoftを反則技だと批判した.
この問題にCodePlex Foundationがどのような役割かは定かではないが,ひとまず関係のないように見える.
しかし,このタイミングは偶然ではない.

This move arrives on the heels of a controversy over a Microsoft patent auction—allegedly aimed at undermining Linux—that compelled the executive director of the Linux Foundation to criticize the company for foul play. It's unclear if the CodePlex Foundation has been established in response to the controversy: the foundation itself appears unrelated, but there is certainly a possibility that the timing wasn't coincidental.

オープンソース団体の一般的なルールでは,版権については中立である.
これにより開発者は独自にまとめたモデルをライセンスすることができる.
団体は共同でプロジェクトのポリシーを決めたり,
オープンソースコミュニティと参加している企業とのビジネス関係を決めることができる.

The typical role of open source software foundations is to serve as a neutral vehicle for copyright assignment. This allows the developers to have an independent entity with a collectively directed governance model that can handle functions like relicensing and license enforcement. Foundations can also provide a venue for collaboratively setting policy for projects or managing the business relationships between open source software communities and participating companies.

CodePlex Foundationの資料によると,従来型の団体であるようだ.
コミュニティ参加者はその団体の版権を示す貢献者同意に基づく.
彼らは同時に永久に無償の特許ライセンスをコードに適応し,再配布する際にも適応する.
特許の同意部分はオープンソース団体のそれととても似ている.
たとえばApacheとほぼ同じだ.
これはコミットされたすべてのコードが無償の特許に関連し,
これがMicrosoftの技術に採用されるのではないかとの批判を生む.

A look at the CodePlex Foundation's documents indicates that it will function a lot like conventional open source foundations. Participants sign a contributor agreement through which they assign copyright to the organization. They also grant perpetual royalty-free patent licenses to all recipients of the code, including downstream redistributors. The language in the patent grant section is very similar to the language used in other open source foundation contributor agreements, such as the Apache Foundation's Individual Contributor License Agreement. This means that any code that is contributed through the foundation is free of the patent concerns that some critics have raised regarding adoption of Microsoft's technologies.

この団体には暫定的にMicrosoft社員が多く所属している.
その中にはMonoプロジェクトのMiguel de Icazaも含まれている.
現在の仕事は,所属メンバーを決めることと,エグゼクティヴを決めることだ.
彼らはオープンソース団体や商用ソフト企業などから,様々な人を集めたいと思っている.
この活動はMicrosoftのオープンソース代表のSam Ramjiによって進められている.

The foundation will be managed by an interim board that largely consists of Microsoft employees. It also includes Miguel de Icaza, the prominent open source software developer behind the Mono project. The interim board's function is to assemble a permanent board and name an executive director. They hope to bring together a diverse board that will include representatives of open source software communities and commercial software companies. The effort will be led by Microsoft's Sam Ramji, an open source advocate within Microsoft.

最近のLinuxコラボサミットでRamjiが述べたことによると,
オープンソースソフトはLinuxと同じ意味ではない.
Microsoftのソフト製品と,争うのではなく補完するオープンソースプロジェクトがあることは明らかである.
RamjiはMicrosoftがこのようなオープンソースを包含し,
Linuxと争うつもりのようだ.

Ramji's view, which he described during the recent Linux collaboration summit, is that open source software is not synonymous with the Linux platform. There are obviously many open source software projects that complement, rather than compete with, Microsoft's core software products. Ramji believes that Microsoft can embrace open source in those contexts while it continues to compete with Linux.

Linux FoundationエグゼクティヴのJim Zemlinは
MicrosoftがLinuxと争うことは,Microsoftの相互運用性にとって有害で,
カスタマーにも有害である,と反論した.

Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, however, contends that the means through which Microsoft competes with Linux are detrimental to Microsoft's interoperability efforts and are harmful to the company's consumers.

この団体のアサインメントを見ていたとき,サイドノートに面白いものを見つけた.
PDFのメタデータのtitle部分は,"For Microsoft Internal Discussion Purposes Only"になっている.
これはこの団体のコンセプトが,急いで内々的に決められたものということを示唆している.
もしくはただ単にMicrosoftが入れただけなのかもしれないが.

On an amusing side note, I discovered a few curiosities when I was looking at the PDF metadata of the foundation's assignment agreement. The value of the "title" metadata field is "For Microsoft Internal Discussion Purposes Only". This may suggest that the foundation concept has been under internal discussion for a while and was executed in a hurry. Or it may just be boilerplate for documents created by Microsoft.

CodePlex Foundationにまだ陪審員はいない.
いまのところ,この団体の中立性は疑問のままだ.
さまざまな人を取り入れるつもりならば,重要性が増す.
同意書の特許の条項は将来性があり,必要十分条件を満たしているようである.
しかし,昨今のLinux FoundationからのMicrosoftに対する批判から見ると,
CodePlex Foundationはしばらく監視の対象となりそうである.

The jury is still out on the CodePlex Foundation. In its current form, the organization's neutrality is clearly an open question, but that could improve considerably if it follows through with its goals for establishing a more diverse board. The patent provisions in the contributor agreement look very promising and are sufficiently broad to provide the requisite level of protection. But, in light of the recent criticisms against Microsoft from the Linux Foundation, it seems likely that the CodePlex Foundation will face heavy scrutiny.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MacbookやiMacのSSD/HDDを完全消去する(High Sierra対応版)

conda clean --allはやってはいけない

Nintendo SwitchがあればChromecastはいらないぞ!