Linuxcare Challenges Microsoft to Open Windows
Linuxcare, Inc. today pledged that it would support an open-source version of windows, if Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates would "live up" to his off-camera discussion with Bloomberg News Service.
According to Bloomberg, Gates "agreed with the statement that Microsoft would be willing to open the source code for its Windows software to competitors in order to settle the [Justice Department's anti-trust] case" in an off-camera discussion.
Linuxcare executive vice president Arthur Tyde reported today in a press release that, "Linuxcare is ready to support Windows as true open-source software ... we recognize that it would be a massive undertaking to wade through 35 million lines of code, but we are up to the challenge if Microsoft decides to take its chairman's comments seriously."
The report of Microsoft’s willingness to open Windows code in order to end the stalemate in it’s case with the DOJ, upstaged Microsoft’s own release of Windows 2000 on Thursday and spurred a denial of any such remarks by its chairman.
"Yes, if that's all it took," Gates said, according to Bloomberg. Reportedly Gates did not elaborate.
A Microsoft spokesman, Jim Cullinan denied Bloomberg's report.
"We've talked to Bill, and Bill said he never said that ... that issue is not even related to this case."
Linuxcare on the other hand, hopes that Microsoft will release the much guarded code to the world’s most popular Operating System.
"Our focus is on large business customers, where Windows still dominates the desktop ... should Microsoft decide to open source its Windows code, we believe the worldwide community of software developers will help make it a better product,"
the press release continued.