"Open" licensing at Microsoft

It's not "open source," but "open checkbook."

ZDNet's Evan Leibovitch has written a wry, entertaining column about the appropriation of the word "open" by marketers at Microsoft, Adobe, Computer Associates, and other companies.

The latest wrinkle: More companies are starting to use the word "open" to describe volume-purchase licenses. No source code is delivered; neither beer nor speech is guaranteed to be free.

Sheesh.

• Open licensing: their gain, your pain
• Microsoft's new Open License: the easy way to go