Cloud giant
Microsoft is to sponsor the Open Source Initiative. With headquarters in Richmond, Washington, United States, Microsoft is globally recognized for its Azure cloud platform and its Office 365 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution Office 365. While during most of the company’s existence it was very guarded over its IP. More recently, with the launching of the Microsoft Community License and the Microsoft Permissive License, Microsoft has leaned towards becoming an Open Source company. Over recent years Microsoft has made some of its flagship offerings Open Source. These have included the .Net framework, Visual Studio Code and Typescript. It joins the Open Source Initiative as an “official sponsor”.
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) was established in in 1998 with the intention of promoting open-source software. A non-profit organization with a focus on education and collaboration, it safeguards the ‘ideals and ethos’ of the Open Source community. Although the financial aspects of Microsoft’s sponsorship have not been released, it will offer the initiative the funds it needs to support its work. The move comes after Microsoft joining the Linux Foundation in November 2016.
“The work that the Open Source Initiative does is vital to the evolution and success of open source as a first-class element in the software industry,” explained Jeff McAffer in an announcement on Microsoft’s website. “As Microsoft engages with open source communities more broadly and deeply, we are excited to support the Open Source Initiative’s efforts and to take part in the OSI community”. He added, ‘Today’s announcement represents one more step in Microsoft’s open source journey and our increased role in advocacy for the use, contribution, and release of open source software, both with our customers and the ecosystem at large”.
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