4 Microsoft's Man in Open Source: Sam Ramji on Redmond\'s Linux ...

Tag : LINUX
However, Microsoft explained, the deal was anything but nefarious.With increasingly heterogeneous datacenters, customers wantedWindow and Linux to work well together – in fact they demandedit. The company’s efforts were focused on providing the bestsolutions for enterprise clients, and if that meant interoperatingwith Linux, then Redmond was flexible. Naturally Microsoft neededto protect its intellectual property in the process, hence thepatent statement.
The Novell-Microsoft partnership (and similar deals Microsoft hasinked with Linux vendors) continues to spark controversy. Perhapstotal harmony between the open source community and Microsoft willhave to wait until the Age of Aquarius. Or longer.
In the meantime, it’s Sam Ramji’s job to build a bridgebetween these two contrasting worlds. To that end, he does thingslike attend the recent open source confab OSCON , where he spoke about areas of interoperability. He facilitatestechnical collaborations between Microsoft and open source vendors;past examples include JBoss, SugarCRM, XenSource, Zend andSpikeSource. And he's involved with Microsoft’s Open SourceSoftware Lab (launched in 2004), a research project located inRedmond with hundreds of servers running dozens of Linux distros.He maintains a blog about Microsoft and open source .
Before his current role Ramji held a variety of tech managerialposts, including a stint supervising engineering teams as theydeveloped heavyweight applications on open source software. Heholds a degree in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego, andhe’s a fan of the famously independent, Noble-winningphysicist Richard Feynman . He lives in Seattle with his wife and kids and, when not working,likes the guitar and mountain biking.
Ramji’s exceptionally busy schedule kept him from answeringall the questions I submitted to him, yet he did address some keyissues about Microsoft’s strategy regarding open source:
Q: The very fact that Microsoft has an individual leading its opensource initiatives represents a sea change in the company'sattitudes. What prompted this change?
Over the course of the past few years, you can certainly say thatMicrosoft’s open source strategy has evolved. The force behindthis evolution is both an increased technical expertise and deepline of sight into Linux and open source, which has really helpedMicrosoft understand where the company competes with commercialLinux offerings and where it can cooperate with the open sourcecommunity. Microsoft’s open source strategy is built onparticipation with individuals, communities and businesses.
Q: Certainly you're aware that some observers are skeptical aboutthe concept of Microsoft having an open source strategy. How do yourespond to this?
Our open source strategy, now and in the future, is to continue ajourney in which we participate with others in learning how opensource products and technologies, Microsoft products andtechnologies—and sometimes open source products andtechnologies from Microsoft—can coexist, combine, and cominglein ways that offer value to customers, developers and ITadministrators, partners businesses, and, as a commercial company,our shareholders.
But our strategy remains unchanged. Microsoft competes with Linuxand UNIX servers with Windows servers; we're going to find ways tointeroperate between Linux and Windows because lots of ourcustomers run both; and we want to grow the open-source ecosystemas it relates to Microsoft software.
Q: At a recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner conference, MicrosoftCEO Steve Ballmer seemed to be saying that Microsoft will work with open source , but will never actually produce open source software. Is that acorrect reading of the company's attitude?
I’m glad you asked this, because it’s incrediblyimportant that we accurately articulate Microsoft’s opensource strategy. Microsoft believes that the next ten years ofsoftware will be a time of growth and change where both open sourceand Microsoft communities will grow together. We believe that in anincreasingly interconnected world, more people have moreopportunity; to use more technology; to do more things than everbefore. We support those choices and are expanding interoperabilitybetween open source technologies and Microsoft technologies.
Q: If you were to look ahead several years in the future, what doyou foresee for Microsoft's open source initiatives?
Both Microsoft and open source exist within a larger industrycontext, so it is worth taking a moment to ground ourselves in thatcontext. The last ten years have been a time of dynamic growth andchange in information technology in which both open source andMicrosoft have grown. Our belief is that we are moving toward a“next ten years” in which Microsoft and open source will“grow together” – and that this growth willincreasingly be focused, purposeful, and complementary.