Scoble leaving Microsoft was 8th most-read story at the open source blog

My brief piece on Robert Scoble (left) leaving Microsoft, and speculation about Microsoft leaving the open source discussion, was the 8th most-read story on this blog for 2006.

In that item I also noted that Jason Matusow had not updated his own blog at Microsoft in some time. He's still not updating often -- the most recent substantive entry as of today is dated November 15.

But does this really matter? Is a company blog evidence of true engagement, and is the lack of one evidence of disengagement?

Personally I think Microsoft is divided on the question of open source. This is not a surprise, given that it's a large company, filled with brilliant people, and the open source movement is something that's outside its basic experience -- growing and as easy to catch as water.

I suspect Microsoft likes the good cop-bad cop act, but I wonder for how long that can continue. Seeing whether Microsoft gains a unified open source strategy will be one of the great stories to watch in 2007.

Next up: The seventh most-read story -- Coverity
Previous: The ninth most-read story -- Bill Gates