Open Source : Is it becoming MicoroSoft?

As the demand Microsoft is changing the strategy. The company is starting to modularize its stack because it recognizes that it must compete in a heterogeneous IT environment. That's what this work with PHP and other open-source systems is all about (though the risk remains that Microsoft is seeking to invite open source into the Borg, and not provide an exit).

Open source should be truly open. Some open-source projects and vendors get this. Red Hat? It works with a slew of proprietary applications. SugarCRM? Run it with just about any operating system, database, application server, etc., that you could wish. And so forth.

Open source is about choice, including the choice to run open source with closed complements. Yes, sometimes the lack of proprietary complement support is a matter of resources, not intention. But to the extent that we build projects that run only with other open-source projects, and intend them to only work with open-source components, we're acting like the proprietary ecosystems that we've been trying to overcome. We shouldn't pull a Microsoft. Or, given its seemingly new direction, maybe we should.

Reference: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10154383-16.html