Microsoft Open.NET: dot-not open source (and periodic table table)
There-there. Don't cry, it's only Thursday's IT Blogwatch: in which Microsoft releases the source to .NET. Not to mention a periodic table table, made of wood...
Paul Krill feeds the whales: [You're fired -Ed.]
Opening up to developers, Microsoft Corp. is releasing its .Net Framework libraries under the Microsoft Reference License, which allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution, the company said on Wednesday. The release gives developers the opportunity to better understand the inner workings of the framework's source code, Microsoft said. Microsoft's efforts fall under the company's Shared Source initiative, which allows for sharing of source code; Shared Source has been viewed as Microsoft's answer to open-source, in which users can view selected source code.
Microsoft also plans to introduce a capability in the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools package to allow .Net Framework developers to debug into .Net Framework source code ... The final release of Visual Studio 2008, which is due later this year, will support the ability to configure the debugger to dynamically download the .Net Framework debugger symbols and corresponding source code from a Web server hosted by Microsoft ... Visual Studio 2008 also will include support to automatically retrieve .Net Framework source files on demand from Microsoft. This means source code for the ASP.Net GridView and BaseDataBoundControl classes cited by Microsoft do not have to be already installed on the machine before the debugger is started. [more] Marshall Kirkpatrick muses:
It's hard to say what the incentive was for this move, it could be that .NET adoption in the developer community has been so small that a drastic step was needed or this could be a strategy to prepare for a big push of SilverLight, Microsoft's new runtime for Rich Internet Applications. The .NET framework is also at the center of Vista, which so far no one has wanted to use at length.
We're still chewing on the significance of this announcement; hopefully some .NET developers can chime in in comments. [more] Microsoft's Scott Guthrie is, "Excited":
One of the things my team has been working to enable has been the ability for .NET developers to download and browse the source code of the .NET Framework libraries, and to easily enable debugging support in them.
Today I'm excited to announce that we'll be providing this with the .NET 3.5 and VS 2008 release later this year. We'll begin by offering the source code (with source file comments included) for the .NET Base Class Libraries (System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text, etc), ASP.NET (System.Web), Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms), ADO.NET (System.Data), XML (System.Xml), and WPF (System.Windows). We'll then be adding more libraries in the months ahead (including WCF, Workflow, and LINQ).
...
[This] is going to be really valuable for .NET developers. Being able to step through and review the source should provide much better insight into how the .NET Framework libraries are implemented, and in turn enable developers to build better applications and make even better use of them. [more] Microsoft's Dan Fernandez calls it, "Just awesome!":
Yes, you'll have to sign a license for it (reference license), but this is huge and a big request from customers to be able to step into actual .NET/BCL code. Currently available is Windows Forms, Windows Presentation Foundation, Base Class Libraries (BCL), and more coming soon (ex: LINQ).
BIG KUDOS to Shawn Burke for driving this, getting executive support and making it happen and on such a huge scale. This all started back in 2004 with Kit George, Brad Abrams, (and me) wanted to release the PDB (debugging files) for the BCL, and we did end up doing a private drop to MVPs, but due to resources, it never got off the ground. Shawn not only resurrected the effort, but he also got more parts of the .NET Framework added and he also solved the bigger issue which was the implementation.
...
The way this works is using the symbol server, a built-in feature of Visual Studio 2005 that enables you to effectively point where the source code is for the .NET Framework. The real value here is that instead of releasing a ton of downloadable versions (.NET Framework x64 SP1 with GDR 123 attached), the Symbol server will "automagically" know what framework/SP/GDR you're running and show you the appropriate code.This means you don't have to worry about not having the right PDB files setup or if you have the latest refresh as it's all taken care of you and you get full debugging support. [more] But Dave Rosenberg calls it, "A patent trolling dream":
The Microsoft Reference License ... allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution. Despite my chronic proclamations of conspiracy theories, this whole thing seems like a bad idea.
Basically, you tacitly agree to the license and then get to see the code. What happens when something patented or copyright from the MS frameworks make their way into other products (probably accidentally but a huge amount of software is based on the same design patterns.) Does Microsoft agree to not sue? Nope.
It would seem wise to avoid anything released under this half-baked Microsoft Reference License. Why wouldn't Microsoft want developers to use the libraries anyway? Why not just GPL it? For that matter, why not Apache the libraries. [more] Robert Scoble smells fear:
Microsoft: releasing source after everyone else? Another defensive move on part of Microsoft? Protect the tools business!
...
This isn’t open sourcing .NET, just releasing the source. That’s even lamer cause [Java and Adobe Flex are] actually open sourced and are accepting submissions from the community.
Cool, but when you’re last to do something does it really matter anymore? [more] But m50d asks, "So f***ing what?":
So they encourage you to report things to them rather than distributing a patch yourself. So what? Trolltech does this, MySQL does this, Sun does this, Mozilla does this; in fact virtually every significantly-sized open source project encourages you to fix problems through their own channels rather than throwing a patch around yourself. It's just good sense. [more] Here's iONiUM with an alternative suggestion:
You can already see all the source of the .NET framework using Lutz Roeder's Reflection tool. I use this all the time to see how the innards of functions work when something goes screwy with .NET. [more] Buffer overflow:
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Periodic table table [Tip of the hat:
Bonzer Sites]
Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at
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