Much of the reaction from FOSS folks to news that Microsoft is joining the Open Source Census centers on concern that Microsoft is out to find open source users and what open source software they’re using. I think that may be exactly right.
However, I don’t think Microsoft has embarked on a SCO-style hunt for open source users it can cajole, threaten or sue for unnamed patent infringements. No, I think Microsoft has genuine interest in finding out how many open source software users are candidates for open source on Windows. I believe the company, which has changed, is aware of the scrutiny on it and its strategy with open source. Does Microsoft want to know exactly which open source software packages are most popular in datacenters? Wouldn’t you if you were provider of the most popular server/desktop OS in the world? Certainly Microsoft would rather see growth of its own products rather than growth of open source, but I believe it has accepted that it also has opportunity in open source that will be taken by others if it does not step up.
Microsoft is indeed targeting open source software users. However, being in the cross hairs means being a customer and I highly doubt any of those customers will ever find themselves defendants against Microsoft. Will Microsoft use Open Source Census data to sharpen its focus on its own products that compete with open source? Sure, but whether Redmond is aware or not, the bigger opportunity lies in Microsoft’s own support of open source. Should Microsoft be precluded from obtaining information about how much and which open source is being used? That doesn’t sound like open source to me. Once again, we see that open source is increasingly being viewed not as a hobbyist fad, cheap alternative, or enterprise-limited. No, instead open source is being viewed and handled by Microsoft and most other vendors as a source of real rivalry and real opportunity.
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