Windows 7: Microsoft delays open sourcing Windows 7 tool

Microsoft delays open sourcing Windows 7 tool

Microsoft has delayed open sourcing its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, which it pulled from its servers over reports that it violated the GNU General Public License (GPL).

By Emil Protalinski | Last updated November 23, 2009 1:29 PM






After committing to making the source code and binaries for the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool available under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2 (GPL) last week, Microsoft has pushed back its schedule a bit. The company is blaming testing for the delay, meaning it isn't simply rereleasing the tool under the open source license; it's actually modifying and removing some of the code (likely proprietary code the software giant doesn't want to be available freely). A post on Port 25, the company's open source community blog, late last week explains:

While we worked extremely hard to try and get the code ready for release by today, we still need to test and localize it. Our goal is now to release the tool in all languages on the same day in the next few weeks. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to make the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool available once again.

That story is ludicrous.

Rafael Rivera (co-author of Windows 7 Secrets..with Paul Thurrott) is the one who started looking into this particular tool. What Rafael found was that the code was EXACTLY stolen right out of an open source application using code published under the GPL. This story makes it seem like Microsoft is publishing this software for the good of the community. The software was already published for the good of the community...I especially liked the part where they said, "likely because of proprietary code they didn't want freely available". Haha...it's pathetic. Microsoft's official response I believe was "this code came from a contractor, this wasn't anything we did on purpose".

Yes, according to the Windows Weekly podcast with Paul Thurrott Microsoft was disappointed that Rafael didn't come to them first and keep it off his blog. Oh well, I give MS some credit to come out and admit freely that it was stolen from the open source community. However, the way this is being handled and spun by the press is not much of an accident as far as I am concerned. This is a controlled PR campaign.