On the business side

On the business side

Posted Nov 13, 2003 15:27 UTC (Thu) by pbakker (guest, #16829)
In reply to: On the business side by ezyrider
Parent article: The future of the Linux filesystem

Apart from technical considerations, the decision for many as to whether to consider WinFS can only be made after reading the accompanying licenses and legal ramifications.

When your business data is stored in a proprietary, patented, binary format, you depend on MS for continued access to the data. If the license is by subscription model, you must continue to pay the subscription price. As soon as you stop paying, your access to your data is cut off, and the cutoff may be automatically enforced.

Storing all your data in a format only accessible by MS tools is risky. A patent could prevent third party tools from being developed.

Trusting your data to WinFS comes down to how much you trust MS and your continuing ability to pay any requested fees.

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