Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#1

Post by eapotapov » Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 11:04 PM UTC

"Source code for portions of Microsoft Edge is available free of charge from https://thirdpartysource.microsoft.com under the third party open source license terms provided at https://aka.ms/thirdpartynotices and in Microsoft Edge at edge://credits after installation. Or to obtain this source code you may send a check or money order for US $5.00, including the Edge version number, to:

Source Code Compliance Team Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 USA"

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#2

Post by mattl » Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 11:07 PM UTC

That’s fairly standard.

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#3

Post by eapotapov » Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 11:10 PM UTC

mattl wrote: post #2

That’s fairly standard.

I wonder if anyone was really trying to do it, and if they have a defined procedure for such request (get the check, proceed with the source code access etc.)

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#4

Post by metadat » Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 11:24 PM UTC

Why do they gate it this way? Don't they own GitHub?

Bad actors, just ludicrous..

Also, isn't it just a chromium fork? I wonder if ElGoog gave them speci licensing terms.

Chrome is released as "proprietary freeware"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome

Chromium is licensed as 3-clause BSD, which means $ms can do whatever TF they want with it. Fun.

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#5

Post by pinewurst » Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 11:50 PM UTC

There’s a big misunderstanding here. The $5 would be to obtain a physical copy of the source code if the inquiry cannot be satisfied (for free!) online.

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#6

Post by cbhl » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 12:22 AM UTC

pinewurst wrote: post #5

There’s a big misunderstanding here. The $5 would be to obtain a physical copy of the source code if the inquiry cannot be satisfied (for free!) online.

If anything, the opposite problem has caught a lot of folks off guard -- GPL and other copyleft used to require (require!) you to provide physical media in exchange for a check; an online link used to be insufficient to fulfill your source distribution requirements.

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#7

Post by toast0 » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 1:47 AM UTC

metadat wrote: post #4

Why do they gate it this way? Don't they own GitHub? Bad actors, just ludicrous.. Also, isn't it just a chromium fork? I wonder if ElGoog gave them speci licensing terms. Chrome is released as "proprietary freeware" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome Chromium is licensed as 3-clause BSD, which means $ms can do whatever TF they want with it. Fun.

Is it a gate? I mean, I guess it's an OR-gate... Do you want it free? You can download it. Do you want it on a disc? Send $5 and you'll get it.

Re: Microsoft asks for $5 check sent to Redmond to get 3rdparty source code for Edge

#8

Post by mattl » Sun, May 01, 2022, 10:39 PM UTC

eapotapov wrote: post #3

mattl wrote: post #2

That’s fairly standard.

I wonder if anyone was really trying to do it, and if they have a defined procedure for such request (get the check, proceed with the source code access etc.)

I used to work (left 10 years ago) at the FSF and dealt with a lot of that kind of thing.

Also prisoners asking for books.