Windows 8 Store Will Allow Open Source Apps

MrSeb writes "Some interesting legalese found in the recent publication of the Windows Store Application Developer Agreement could signify a very big win for the open source community. The section in question states that apps released under a license from the Open Source Initiative (GPL, Apache, etc.) can be distributed in the Windows Store. Further, it says that the OSI license will trump the Microsoft Standard Application License Terms, namely the the restriction on sharing applications. As for the reasoning behind this big about-turn, it could be down to Microsoft trying to soften the blow of its Android patent litigation — or maybe Redmond is just trying to differentiate itself from Apple, which famously restricts open source-licensed apps from being sold in its iOS and Mac App Stores."

Apple does not disallow open source apps either

[SuperKendall]

Not sure where you got your information from, but Apple does not disallow open source apps from the app store at all. The iOS development community in fact is heavily based on numerous open source libraries that everyone uses...

You may have been mistaken from the case of VLC, which was pulled because of a copyright claim made by one of the VLC developers. It was not pulled because it was open source.

So it's nice that Microsoft will offer the same opportunity to open source developers, but hardly unique.

Microsoft is more evil than ever

[walterbyrd]

Maybe you have missed all the hyper-aggressive fivilous patent lawsuits that microsoft routinely files against Android users?

Re:Not GPL

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

GPL v2 or v3?

Sounds perfectly compatible with V2.

Re:FUD - again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple does add additional terms which violate the GPL (and especially v3) - the only people who can publish GPL applications on iPhones are the original copyright owners of the source code.

Re:Apple does not disallow open source apps either

[Tharsman]

There are some issues with a very specific open source license and the Apple App store. All apps in the app store have a non-obtrusive DRM in them, this means you can’t hand someone a copy of the free app you downloaded.

Mind you, you are entirely free to give the link to someone for them to download entirely free of charge, just as you did, but a version of the GPL license specifically dictates you can’t block the user's ability to redistribute himself. Even if Apple did have the said DRM, they also don’t allow you to install software from alternate sources, so that also hinders a user's ability to redistribute.

So the question is: will the windows app store give developers a flag they can set to not include a DRM in the specific app? And will they allow (in tablets) to install software from other sources? As it stands now, the Windows Phone 7 store should not be compatible with these specific clauses either (even with the sanctioned jailbreak available.)

iOS and Mac App Stores are GPL/LGPL incompatible

[CritterNYC]

As the iOS and Mac App Stores have restrictive licensing terms and are setup in a way which are incompatible with the GPL and LGPL. And as the GPL and LGPL represent the majority of open source software (about 57% combined). Yes, Apple does indeed restriuct open source apps from their app store.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[gorzek]

Games. Why do people always ask this? Most games don't work on Linux.*

* At least not without an excessive amount of fiddling and configuration and praying.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[NatasRevol]

What if Apple doesn't have anything against open source projects?

In fact, they contribute a LOT to open source.

http://opensource.apple.com/ [apple.com]

Re:Microsoft and open source

[isorox]

Apart from those, are there actually open source projects that can compete with proprietary counterparts? Especially on less popular niches like industry products or games (even though games is a popular niche, but there still isn't any good open source games or game engines).

ffmpeg and vlc, I can't think of any propriety program that can dream of competing.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[JAlexoi]

PostgreSQL has who? Really... As well as OpenERP and a plethora of many OSS projects. Heck, Apache HTTPd became the dominant web server without any support from major players.
In addition, majority of software projects die anyway, OSS is no exception to the general trend. And most software is as horrible as OSS, making OSS just as successful as proprietary software.

Re:How funny that I already corrected you

[Hatta]

The VLC developer made the claim because Apple's TOS is incompatible with the GPL. Apple is 100% to blame for that incompatibility.

If that's not obvious, try a thought experiment. Apple could change their TOS to be consistent with the GPL pretty easily. Apple would still have an app store, and VLC would still be free software. Clearly Apple can do something to resolve this incompatibility, so they bear at least some responsibility for it.

Now consider if VLC changed their license to be consistent with the app store TOS. VLC would be allowed on the app store, but it would no longer be free software. In that case, Apple's app store is still incompatible with free software. Nothing the VLC developers can do can change that, so they bear none of the responsibility for it.

P.S. A lot of folks are using "Free Software" and "Open Source" interchangably here. This is one of the times when the distinction matters. You might be able to get open source apps on the app store, but you'll never be able to exercise your fundamental software freedoms.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[InsightIn140Bytes]

It's very telling that Microsoft is one of three largest supporters of Apache. But these "little" facts are often forgotten when slashdotters bash Microsoft.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[jedidiah]

You have a strange idea of "contributing".

They BAN it from their devices.

That's what this article is about.

More accurately, Apple "takes advantage" of rather than "contributes to" open source. So do actual Apple and Microsoft users. Although it seems that Microsoft is more comfortable with this.

They are willing to leave the likes of ffmpeg and vlc and xbmc alone and not actively prevent their users from installing them.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[Belial6]

I can add:
XBMC
Snes9X
Vice
Stella
WinUAE
M.A.M.E.

Re:Microsoft and open source

[NatasRevol]

You mean contributing by submitting all these source codes? Pretty sure that's not taking advantage of. But you can keep that to yourself.

From the 10.7 page, just the a* for the unix apps:

adv_cmds-147 APSL BSD
amavisd-124 GPL
apache-769 Apache
apache_mod_bonjour-15 APSL BSD
apache_mod_bw-201 Apache
apache_mod_encoding2-204 BSD
apache_mod_hfs_apple-11 APSL
apache_mod_jk-202 Apache
apache_mod_perl-105 Apache
apache_mod_php-66.1 PHP
apache_mod_python-202 Apache
apr-26 Apache
architecture-260 APSL
autofs-207 APSL CDDL
awk-18 Other