Microsoft Backs Open Source

Microsoft promises to open some of its comms software and become a platinum sponsor of the open source Apache Software Foundation.

The times they are certainly a-changin’. Microsoft, which has defended its code so fiercely, has becomes a platinum sponsor of the open source Apache Software Foundation, and has also agreed to open up some of its comms software to developers.
The announcement was made by Sam Ramji, a director of Microsoft’s platform strategy, at the Open Source Convention, according to the BBC.

Although the amount Redmond’s finest has given to Apache wasn’t stated, to be a platinum sponsor requires at least a $100,000 donation.

The company also donated a patch to Apache’s open source database project.

Microsoft has already partnered with some Apache developers to open up its documents format.

It’s a move away from the recent past, which has seen the company fined over $1 million in Europe for not making its software more interoperable with that of its competitors.