there is a fine line between agile and fragile
Microsoft has re-released the previously revoked Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. This time around, it's GPL licensed with source-code.
The tool has previously been released and subsequently revoked again after Microsoft was made aware that the tool, developed by a third party, included GPL licensed code in the compiled binary.
Personally I'm happy that the tool is available again, and that Microsoft "did the right thing ®" and released it with the proper license.
Yesteday I had to reinstall my home computer due to a botched BIOS flash (don't ask, long story...), and decided that it was time I installed Windows 7 on that computer as well.
Remembering the Microsoft's Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, I went looking for the download only to be met by a 404 (page not found) error when I tried to download it. The whole information/documentation section was still available on the Microsoft Store site, but the downloadable file was missing. No information was given, so I assumed it was a glitch on Microsofts behalf and located an alternative download site (CNet) that still had it available.
The tool did it's job, and I got Windows 7 Enterprise installed from a USB pendrive without any problems at all, just as expected.
Today, however, all information regarding the tool has been removed. All you get now is a "Sorry, the page you are looking for cannot be found." 404 error when you try to access it's previous location and no explanation is given.
Turns out, Microsoft has indeed pulled the tool from the site. According to Rafael Rivera Jr. this is because he discovered that the Microsoft tool was using code from "CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster"
Clearly a breach of the GPL as the Microsoft tool wasn't GPL'ed itself.
Read all the details in Rafael's post "Microsoft lifts GPL code, uses in Microsoft Store tool". I guess that means we are back to using Novicorp WinToFlash again. For more details on WinToFlash, check out my post called "Installing Windows from a USB Stick".
How did this ever slip through Microsofts QA?
On November 13th Microsoft confirmed that their own internal code review of the tool had uncovered that Rafael Riviera Jr. was indeed right. The tool does contain GPL code. The tool was develped for Microsoft by a third party, but still, this could, and should, have been avoided if Microsoft had conducted a proper code review before releasing the tool into the wild.
So, Microsoft now what? Well, it seems like they indend to do the only thing they can do, release the whole tool as GPL licensed:
As a result, we will be making the source code as well as binaries for this tool available next week under the terms of the General Public License v2 as described here, and are also taking measures to apply what we have learned from this experience for future code reviews we perform.
Read the whole statement from Microsoft: Update on the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool
I must say that even if this shouldn't have happened, Microsoft did the right thing here. Admitting what happened and took the natural consequences. Well played.
InnoTek announced yesterday that their VirtualBox virtualization software is going open source (GPL). Versions for both Linux and Windows are available for download, as well as the entire SVN code repository.
I've never tested their virtualization software, but by the looks of it QUEMU is the basis for the virtualization solution, and they support both Intel VT-x and AMD SVM for hardware assisted virtualization. Documentation looks scarce, but there are some good information to be found on the basic architecture.
Definitely worth having a look at when I get the time.
It's official, the world is doomed and there is nothing we can do to save it. Ok, thats a bit over the top, but the recently announced collaboration deal announced by Microsoft and Novell is nothing short of extremely surprising.
Or is it? Think about it. Is Linux the biggest threat to Microsoft, or is it something else?
When looking at the Microsoft Press Release one thing springs to mind immediately:
it's all about virtualization
OK, they threw "Document format compatibility" into the mix as well as well as support and interoptability, but thats really minor points. It's very apparent that this deal is made to put VMware under more pressure than Microsoft can do in their own. The fact that VMware is able to pressure Microsoft into striking a deal with Novell, and Xen, shows that VMWare is a serious threat to the future of Microsoft virtualization platform.
It's also very interesting to note the following passage from the MS Novell FAQ
The patent agreement signed by Novell and Microsoft was designed with the principles and obligations of the GPL in mind. Under this agreement, customers of SUSE Linux Enterprise know they have patent protection from Microsoft in connection with their use of SUSE Linux Enterprise, further encouraging the adoption of Linux in the marketplace.
So much for GPL being cancer, Mr. Ballmer. If VMware scares you enough to sleep with the enemy, they must be doing something right.