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Download tool for Windows 7 pulled by Microsoft
Microsoft has stopped distribution of a tool targeted at making it easier to put Windows 7 on Netbooks amid allegations that the usage makes improper use of open-source code. The software maker said that it has pulled down the Windows USB/DVD Tool while investigating the issue, which was raised sometime back by Windows blogger Rafael Rivera on his Within Windows blog. In his blog post, Rivera opined that Microsoft appears to use code from a tool called ImageMaster that is licensed under the GPLv2 open-source license. The General Public License, in the same way like open-source licenses, allows code to be readily used by others, but has its own set of terms and conditions, such as sharing any devisements made to the code.
Microsoft confirmed it has released a review of the matter and taken the utility off its online Microsoft Store until that inquiry has been completed. It is looking into this issue and is bringing down the tool from the Microsoft Store site until its review is complete. This was revealed in a statement by the company. Though somewhat obscure, the utility is important because it fixes a technical challenge in upgrading the operating system on Netbooks and other PCs sans an optical drive. Microsoft had been exploring for a long time different ways of enabling to help users of Windows XP-based Netbooks move to Windows 7. The tool, which had been released a while back alongside Windows 7, gives the option to users to take a downloadable copy of the operating system and create a bootable drive. The issue is also an obstacle in Microsoft's efforts to show that it can play nice with the open-source community. As ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley notes, it is not the first time Microsoft has been blamed of misusing GPL code.
The most recent dust-up comes as Microsoft is celebrating it's anniversary of its deal with Novell which has enterd the third year,one of Microsoft's biggest endeavours to blend its world with the open-source world.Under that deal, Microsoft entered into an agreement not to sue Novell customers for their use of its Linux distributions.
Microsoft has also released a host of products under various open-source licenses itself, though typically not under the GPL, which it sees as one of the more restrictive licenses. Redmond has been in particular critical of terms in version 3 of the GPL.
The software maker did release a couple of Linux drivers under GPLv2, although it seems its hand may have been forced there. Some have given the impression that the drivers contained GPL code, meaning that they would have necessarily needed to be released back under the GPL. Microsoft has taken a host of different approaches to open-source software, particularly Linux. The software maker has at times agreed on the notion of a heterogeneous world where Linux and Windows co-exist, promising to do better to make sure IT
administrators can manage mixed environments.Otherwise Microsoft executives have lashed out, painting open-source software as violating hundreds of Microsoft patents.
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