Richard Poynder interviews Professor Tony Hey

Respected Open Access journalist and blogger Richard Poynder interviews Professor Tony Hey of Microsoft and The University of Southampton on his career, his move to Microsoft, his stance on Open Source and Open Access:

http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/12/conversation-with-microsofts-tony-hey.html

This interview was probably kick-started at least in part because Southampton's world class Institutional Repository package EPrints.org can now be run on smoothly (I'm told) on Windows, and Microsoft's apparent interest in funding Open Source development work (but not GNU licenced work, only BSD or similar).

There are sentiments expressed in this interview which set my Open Source alarm bells ringing. Phrases like Microsoft "promise not to sue you" don't sit well with me, along with the idea that "if Microsoft doesn't patent these technologies, someone else will" doesn't strike me as getting to the nub of the argument. Or that the GPL "denies the existance of a software industry". These don't strike me as statements on behalf of a company that really wants to share, and my paranoia alarm says that things will only continue like this for as long as it suits them. Be on your guard.

As ever, a thorough treatment by Richard Poynder.