Microsoft is not known for being nice to open source projects or communities. Therefore, the recent news that some of the code for their new Silverlight technology will be open source raised some eyebrows over the weekend. Exact details about the open source software from Microsoft will be announced this week during the MIX 07 conference.
MIX is a conference for web developers run by Microsoft; this year is the second time the event has been run. Silverlight is Microsoft’s own software that is designed to view rich multimedia content on the web. The hope from Microsoft is that Silverlight will rival Adobe’s Flash. If all goes well the expectation form Microsoft is that Silverlight will mean the end of Flash in a few years time. Not likely, simply because Flash has too much of a broad user base, and some people feel that Microsoft ruined their chances to play nice with the open source community a long time ago.
Another thought shared by insiders and developers is that Silverlight and the announcement at MIX 07 is just an answer to Adobe announcing that they will open source the Flex SDK last week. Flex is designed to help developers work with Flash. Microsoft will face some stiff competition in the web development arena. Remember that Adobe is not alone on the competitor list for Microsoft. Google and Yahoo are both attracting large numbers of vendors with open source tools for (Rich Internet Applications) RIA’s.
Another name for Microsoft to remember is Laszlo. Laszlo Systems is a small company who also developed a popular open source tool for RIA development. The tool is called OpenLaszlo and it allows developers to build Flash as well as AJAX applications.
Some companies look forward to Silverlight. Limelight Networks, for example is one such company. In an interview posted online Nathan Raiborski, who is co-founder of the company said, “High-performance is integral to our success and ongoing leadership as a content delivery network. With Microsoft Silverlight we’re supporting a platform that will revolutionize the capabilities and experiences we can provide, using scalable and recognized technologies already deployed by our customers.”
No mater the motive from Microsoft, the fact is Silverlight will get some attention and some developmental use. Some say that Microsoft is simply attempting to use the open source community to build momentum for the Silverlight project. The goal there would be to strip market share form Adobe. There is another just as likely motive. Microsoft might finally be coming to grips with what many vocal critics have said for years; open source technology is good for business and leads to more gains than losses.
