Microsoft will soon release the source code and binaries for a Windows 7 tool that was recently found to contain code licensed under the GNU General Public License.
The tool in question is the company’s free Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, which enables consumers to create bootable USB drives or DVD backup media from the electronic software edition of Windows 7 that comes in an ISO format.
“Within Windows” blogger Rafael Rivera Jr. uncovered the GPL-licensed code earlier this month.
“While poking through the UDF-related internals of the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, I had a weird feeling there was just wayyyyyyyyy too much code in there for such a simple tool,” Rivera explained in a post on his site.
“A simple search of some method names and properties, gleaned from Reflector’s output, revealed the source code was obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project,” Rivera added, noting that the author of the code had not been contacted by Microsoft.
Two problems result, Rivera said. First, “Microsoft did not offer or provide source code for their modifications to ImageMaster nor their tool.”
Read the whole story at http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Microsoft-Goof—One-Small-Snag-in-a-Code-Licensing-Quagmire-68665.html?wlc=1258486983
