According to a recent ZDNet article, Microsoft is considering making SQL Server source code available to customers under its shared source program. I emphasise "considering," as Microsoft hasn't committed to doing anything yet.
The shared source program is Microsoft's catch-all for making source code available to selected products. Terms, however, vary, depending on which product's source code you are trying to access. In the case of Windows, the crown jewel of Microsoft's product line, you have to be a fairly large or important customer.
Corporations with 1,500 active Windows seats, a government, a researcher at an approved organisation (such as a school) or an OEM are eligible, meaning many users (including myself) won't have a chance in hell of seeing it. In the case of Windows CE, however, the terms are much more open, even to the extent that companies can sell derivatives works.
That's a pretty broad range of licensing terms, and probably represent the outer bounds of what Microsoft will consider for SQL Server. Microsoft could decide to set the terms as restrictive as those which exist for Windows, but I doubt it, given that SQL Server isn't nearly as sensitive a product for Microsoft as Windows. I also don't think they will be as open as they are with Windows CE, given that consistency is far more important in a database environment than in embedded systems. In other words, I'm guessing the final terms, should Microsoft decide to release SQL Server source code, will likely fall somewhere between these two extremes.
The differences
Microsoft's shared source efforts are either similar to other open source products, or completely different, depending on the product. If we are talking about desktop and server Windows, then differences are glaring. With Linux or the Apache web server, everyone gets access to the source code, whether you're a large organisation or a hobbyist at home. Anyone can make derivative works and distribute it. Anyone can compile the code and sell binaries, as multiple vendors of Linux have already done.
If we are talking about Windows CE, however, the similarities are striking. Everyone has access to Windows CE source code, and anyone can make derivative works and distribute them. In fact, the Windows CE approach bears strong resemblance to code licensed under a BSD license. You can make derivative works of Free-BSD that you keep secret, and sell the result for a profit. Ditto with Apache.
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