"In his keynote at OSCON, Microsoft General Manager of Platform Strategy Bill Hilf announced that Microsoft is submitting its shared source licenses to the Open Source Initiative. This is a huge, long-awaited move. It will be earthshaking for both Microsoft and for the open source community if the licenses are in fact certified as open source licenses. Microsoft has been releasing a lot of software as shared source (nearly 650 projects, according to Bill). If this is suddenly certified as true open source software, it will be a lot harder to draw a bright line between Microsoft and the open source community." In addition, Microsoft has launched a new website where it details its relationship with open source.
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Member since:2005-10-02
Yes, only a few of the many "Shared Source" licenses.
I assumed it was those three licenses. They seem reasonable to me, and an OSI-approval would be a nice step 
EDIT: Oops... missed a spot. MS' reference license won't be approved. No approval without modification rights of some sort. So that one is going down the drain. But the first two (permissive and community) ought to go through.
Edited 2007-07-26 21:02
Member since:2005-08-28
How deep does that go? If person A modifies the software and charges a licensing fee which person B pays, who then modifies it further but doesn't charge a fee... Will person C have to pay licensing fees to get access to B's work?
I'm also not terribly clear on what the Community License means when it says 'Reciprocal'. Does that mean they have to contribute changes back on a per-file basis depending on the licensee's original code?
Member since:2007-02-22
How deep does that go? If person A modifies the software and charges a licensing fee which person B pays, who then modifies it further but doesn't charge a fee...
If you are using person A's work, and person A is charging a fee, then you must pay person A's fee to use it.
If you are using person B's work, and person B is not charing a fee, then you can use it free.
If, however, you are using person B's work, and person B's work is integrated with person A's work, then you have to pay person A's fee.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Here are the levels of Shared Source License from Microsoft:
The three licenses are:
• Microsoft Permissive License (Ms-PL) - The Ms-PL is the least restrictive of the Microsoft source code licenses. It allows licensees to view, modify, and redistribute the source code for either commercial or non-commercial purposes. Under the Ms-PL, licensees may change the source code and share it with others. Licensees may also charge a licensing fee for their modified work if they so wish. Microsoft uses this license most commonly for its developer tools, applications, and components.
• Microsoft Community License (Ms-CL) - The Ms-CL is a license that is best used for collaborative development projects. This type of license is commonly referred to as a reciprocal source code license and carries specific requirements if licensees choose to combine Ms-CL code with the licensee’s original code. The Ms-CL allows for both non-commercial and commercial modification and redistribution of licensed software and carries a per-file reciprocal term.
• Microsoft Reference License (Ms-RL) - The Ms-RL is a reference-only license that allows licensees to view source code in order to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of a given technology. It does not allow for modification or redistribution. Microsoft uses this license primarily for technologies such as its development libraries.