Microsoft's so-called open-source move to allow national governments worldwide to have a peek at Windows source code is achieving success in signing up the IT arms of some administrations, but experts say the program is little more than a token gesture demonstrating Microsoft's fear of Linux's penetration of the market. About a dozen national governments have signed agreements with Microsoft to view its Windows source code, according to published reports, including Austria, Russia, China and the United Kingdom. About 35 more countries are negotiating with Microsoft to do the same.
Microsoft started the Government Software Program in January, offering governments no cost online smart-card access to source code primarily for the goal of evaluating and bolstering security. Governments can access code for beta releases and service packs of Windows 2000 (news - web sites), Windows XP (news - web sites), Windows Server 2003 and Windows CE. The term of the agreement is three years, and governments are not allowed to modify the source code.
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