Microsoft isn’t exactly known for championing open source projects. So it’s rather surprising (in a good way) to see the company release something called the Microsoft Web Platform Installer, which makes it possible to batch install a set of open source projects on Windows Vista or Server 2008.
These projects include DotNetNuke, Drupal, Gallery, Graffiti, osCommerce, PHPBB, and Wordpress. As InfoWorld points out, Microsoft itself isn’t technically the distributor of these projects since users are merely obtaining them from third party developers through Microsoft’s new installer.
The platform is capable of running both ASP and PHP-based applications, and it consists of a suite of tools including Visual Web Developer for creating websites, Microsoft SQL Server for administering databases, and IIS7 for serving webpages. As such, the bundling of these open source packages is a rather clever way for Microsoft to promote the use of its proprietary server software over popular open source alternatives such as Apache and MySQL. Ironic, yes, but selective promotion of open source is better than none at all.
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Wow this is a huge step up.
Maybe Joe The Plumber can now finally get his drupal project running on Vista.
You. Go sit in the corner.
ROFL
If you can’t beat them join them :)!
microshare
The ports system in BSD is over 10 years old. Welcome, Microsoft!
The fact that the “Community Kit for SharePoint” (http://www.codeplex.com/CKS — an open-source version and tools for SharePoint) is not part of the offering shows how dysfunctional this new offering is.
Dude, Grow up! I know they are evil but you appreciate them for the step in right direction.
Oh but i beg to differ… you see it’s all in the Agreements:
You may not test the software in a live operating environment unless Microsoft permits you to do so under another agreement.
Later it says:
The term of this agreement is until May 31, 2009 or commercial release of the software, whichever is first.
Then you get to this part:
You may not
· disclose the results of any benchmark tests of the software to any third party without Microsoft’s prior written approval;
· work around any technical limitations in the software;
…
· use the software for commercial software hosting services.
——
To me it doesn’t seem like a step in the right direction just yet. We should all wait and see.
If you want to use PHP and MySQL you should try XAMPP http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html because it’s GPL, available for all OSes and comes with a bunch of stuff you need. As for installing Drupal, Wordpress, Gallery or one of the many other programs out there… The process is really simple, you download the program, you copy it to the www folder and navigate to it’s proper install address, answer some questions, and that’s it.
On Windows there must be a way to do this using something along the lines of Installpad (get it to install the latest XAMPP, get it to download the latest script versions you need and point you to the proper install address so you continue the process)… Hmmm.
On Linux you can either download a distro that comes with all LAMP installed (and maybe is specifically targeted to do that) or you could get Ubuntu, use it’s “Add/Remove…” or Synaptic to install PHP, Apache and MySQL for you (they also include a way to install Drupal and other great web scripts for you).
Again… Instead of jumping to say this is good or bad, we should wait and see.
RI: It’s not the right direction if they do not leverage their own product (CKS:Sharepoint) beyond just a vanilla server platform. The analogy is a big mac with an add for LIPITOR on the wrapper. YOU grow up.
Pointless.. Enforcing such a licensing restriction would prove detrimental to the Microsoft brand, while the fact that it’s in there will repel any serious business from deploying it. In effect they will only partly reinforce their relationship with the current user base, but insignificantly expand to new markets.
If this was aimed at getting people who build on the applications involved (.net Nuke, Drupal) to most importantly deploy, but also develop on the Microsoft platform, it’s an epic fail. I use some of the open source systems involved, so it should interest me, but this release’s entry risk and returns hardly interest me. I imagine there are some businesses, already locked-in, that will appreciate this gesture.. By a weak initiative, that most likely fades on the board’s checklist.
I wouldn’t exactly put Apple up as an example, a bulk of the entire industry obviously chooses the most optimal free and open source software vendor. This move could obviously only work for building Microsoft’s reputation, but Google just does so much better in that respect.. Pointless.
Nice step. I haven’t had time to play with it and I didn’t read anything to this effect. Does it have a way for applications to be made to work with the installer? Outside of waiting for Microsoft to get to it.
“Open source for thee, but not for me” says Microsoft.
Is that EH the crypto guy? Anyways, just so that you know, when I kick it next year Bill Gates will take over at Apple. P.S. No installer needed.
Does it support Joomla?
As of the beta it does not, however we constantly evaluating Joomla as well as other popular applications.
Zope 3 Application Server would be a good idea.
Microsoft is a Event Sponsor for Drupal Camp Chicago. DCC will have a BoF session to discuss Drupal on Windows. What works, what doesn’t, what’s good, what sucks. This is a shot at a discussion with a Program manager from the IIS team (Windows web server) who is interested in making Open Source and PHP apps play better with Windows.
fianlly microsoft doing some right for open source community.
but why this installer is not available for windows xp ?
@Ajay - The Platform Installer and Application Installer makes use of features and extensions that are optimized for IIS7.0. We are targeting the latest version of our web server. We appreciate the feedback and I’ll let the product team know. FYI - XP support is something we are actively evaluating.
Finally someone lent some amount of it to someone in Microsoft.
Err…. I meant common sense !
bitnami is the way to go for newbies wanting to try a a host of open source stacks and applications, they have ready to run, foolproof install packages for windows, linux and mac. http://www.bitnami.com and they are offering them for free.
If you want to survive you have to adapt to the trends of your industry. Open source should be apart of any large tech companies strategy like Google and IBM have done. Microsoft is trying to defend multiple fronts from the search advertising market (google/yahoo), to software (linux/openoffice), web browsers (firefox, chrome, safari) to media players (iphone). They have a huge task to continue to grow market share.
good~~
microsoft!! open source! doesn’t sound right
http://12tb.com
That’s pretty nice step from Microsoft ! For sure ppl will like the idea if they really mean it as how it is !
Is the Microsoft Web Platform Installer open source?
No?
Oh. Well, that says something. Give a man a key to lock himself up with and he thanks you for the freebie.