For a few years now, Microsoft has shown a certain commitment to open source through multiple projects and decisions, including the Linux subsystem on Windows, SQL Server on Linux, the open source publication of much of the framework. NET, etc.
Richard Stallmann, initiator of the free software movement and the GNU project, was invited to speak at Microsoft headquarters earlier this month. This information was confirmed by Microsoft executives.
Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure, in a tweet said:
In the context of other open source software news Richard Stallman visited campus yesterday and gave a talk at Microsoft Research…
Richard Stallman lectures on the Microsoft campus. If the end of the world comes today, you will know why.
Several people asked if there was a recording or transcript of his speech, but. Richard Stallman tried to end the speculation by writing a post about what he said during this event:
“It is now common knowledge that on September 4, 2019, I gave a lecture on the Microsoft campus in Redmond. I was invited and accepted. The report of this case has sparked a number of speculations and rumors.
There are those who think that Microsoft has invited me to speak in the hope of getting away from the cause of free software.
In the past, Microsoft published what it called "open source contributions" that did not contribute to the free world. (That says a lot about the profound difference between open source and the free software movement.) However, if Microsoft wanted to go back to this practice, it didn't need to invite me.
Some are trying to describe my decision to speak there as an endorsement of Microsoft's current conduct. This is, of course, absurd. My rejection of non-free Microsoft software continues, as does my rejection of any other non-free software.
I think some executives at Microsoft take ethical issues with software seriously.
They may also be interested in some of the specific suggestions or requests that I have submitted. I started with a list of actions that could help the free software community, and that Microsoft could bend, before stating the free software philosophy in the usual way.
I think it's possible that Microsoft will change some practices in a way that helps the free world in a practical way, even if they don't support us globally.
What I can say now is that we must judge Microsoft's future actions by their nature and effects.
This page describes some hostile things that Microsoft has experienced. We must not forget them, but we must not hold a grudge for actions that ended years ago. We should judge Microsoft in the future for what it did then.
"Time will show us if Microsoft is starting to do substantial activities that we can judge well." Let's encourage that in all careful ways.
In addition, Richard Stallman gave several suggestions to Microsoft:
- Keep computers unlockeds (no "secure boot" limiting the systems we can use). A truly secure boot means that the user can specify which system can run on their computer.
- Device protection: no back doors in its embedded software. This applies to keyboards, cameras, discs, and USB memory drives because they contain pre-installed computers and software that can be replaced with a universal tailgate. Hackers do this by installing malware, which becomes an advanced persistent threat. I can say more if necessary.
- Encourage application copylefting and the library code or even the system and tool code.
- That the Web is usable with Javascript disabled.
- Implement an anonymous Internet sales platform that does not require JavaScript, using GNU Taler (taler.net).
- Unlocking the hardware interface of products like Hololens so that we can run them without any non-free software. Even if our software is years out of date, it will be better than not being able to use these devices.
And another suggestion, which I made to a vice president but perhaps not in my speech: Open source the Windows source code under the GNU GPL.
Source: https://www.stallman.org