MS-backed CodePlex Foundation morphs into Outercurve

A Microsoft-sponsored not-for-profit organisation that champions open source projects between the FOSS community and software coders has rebranded itself apart from Redmond’s Codeplex.com platform. The CodePlex Foundation has ended confusion about being part of Microsoft’s CodePlex project, by opting for the new Outercurve …

[Anonymous Coward]

Two worlds?

I didn't know there were two open source worlds. A "leading edge of the open source world" and a "traditional FOSS community". I think I want to join the leading edge :P

[Philip Hands]

FAOD ...

... was my first thought when reading this, but I thought I'd have at least a brief glance at their shiny new site, and within one click, found:

http://www.outercurve.org/Forums

on which we see that a) it still says Codeplex all over it, and b) they've got exactly zero messages in the forums (sic).

Presumably they changed their name because they were lonely, and thought that might help.

[John Angelico]

But it's still ...

... totally funded by MS?

What measure of independence does that actually provide for?

Looks like a Sirius Cybernetics Marketing Dept definition of surgery - appear to cut the umbilical cord (but really keep it connected).

[phunter]

Not lonely

Hi, we decided to let the projects pick their own forum tools rather than dictate that they use ours.... we are not aggregating the thousands of project level posts, just didn't seem to make sense. We are turning the main forum back on shortly... happy to have your input.

[gnufreex]

Nymshifting to start afresh.

But that rarely works.

Outercurve and Codeplex exist solely for one purpose: to be Microsoft proxy. Microsoft can't evade free software anymore, but they don't want to distribute GPL'd code because that would mean they have to forget about suing against those projects whose code they are distributing. That would put kibosh on their FUD strategy. So they make "independent" foundation which is separate legal entity and then direct their customers there when they want free software. It is pretty pathetic, really.

What is even more pathetic is that they call real FLOSS people "traditionalists" and Microsoft is somehow "leading edge". That is one more evidence that Microsoft is trying to pervert and degrade free software, and that they are not really meaning the right thing when they say "open source". They probably mean "free labor" or "free beer".