[ros-kernel] MS settlement rumors..

[Andrew W. <an...@ds...>]

  I'm not sure this is relavent, but it might be interesting
to follow up on if the details come out this way.

  Rumors seem to be flying about a possible Microsoft settlement
with the U.S. DOJ on the antitrust lawsuit.  While the entire
thing sounded too much like a sell out to me in general, I 
thought one of the rumored settlement details about MS having to
allow code inspection for interoperability purposes could be 
interesting for Reactos.  In otherwords, MS having to show
Reactos people their code to allow Reactos to better "interoperate"
with Windows.  Obviously no code could be copied, or would MS
allow it to be, but it would allow Reactos to verify compatibility
and architecture details. Could be fun.

  The source of the rumor.. 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22595.html

**snip**
Microsoft and the DoJ seem close to cutting a deal, and from the 
sound of the terms leaking from the settlement talks, the Beast 
stands a good chance of emerging relatively unscathed. That is, 
if the States attorneys general can be persuaded to go along with it.

...

The final part of the deal to have made it into the public domain 
concerns access to Microsoft code. Rather than going for any of the 
more drastic solutions such as forcing Microsoft to license Windows 
or to make source code public, the DoJ appears to be settling for a 
much more limited option. Qualified personnel from software and 
hardware companies would be allowed to inspect Microsoft code in 
some form of secure facility - you may well wonder what the blazes 
that's supposed to mean.

It's not as yet clear who would be deemed to be qualified, and who 
would have the final say-so on their access. Nor is it obvious that 
this kind of arrangement differs massively from the existing source 
access deals Microsoft has with some of its major customers, and 
some hardware suppliers. We can be pretty sure that Sun, which most 
certainly could not achieve such access at the moment, will be in 
there inspecting, shouting and screaming if this part of the deal 
goes ahead, but we can't be entirely sure how helpful these 
insepction rights will be, if at all. 

...

***snip***


  --Andrew (Yet another list lurker)


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