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By Cara Garretson
Microsoft's decision this week to make two contributions to open-source systems under the General Public License (GPL) offers validity for the open-source model from the most unlikely source.
On Monday Microsoft contributed 20,000 lines of code to the kernel of Linux, an open-source operating system, including drivers that will allow for the virtualization of Linux on Microsoft's hypervisor software. Calling this move a "break from the ordinary," the company explained that its decision to release this code was in response to customer demand.
"Our strategy is to enhance interoperability between the Windows platform and many open source technologies, which includes Linux, to provide the choices our customers are asking for," said Sam Ramji, senior director of Platform Strategy in Microsoft's Server and Tools organization, in a Q&A posted on a Microsoft Web site. "Today's release would have been unheard of from Microsoft a few years ago, but it's a prime example that customer demand is a powerful catalyst for change."
On Tuesday Microsoft made a second release under GPL, this one for a Live Services Plug-in for Moodle, an open-source course management system used for online learning. The plug-in will add services including e-mail, calendaring, instant messaging and search to Moodle, Microsoft said.
Although Microsoft has made some overtures to the open source community in the past, such as establishing its Open Source Community Center to facilitate open-source vendors who want to work with Microsoft, many view the release of Microsoft code under GPL as a validation of the open-source model and therefore a significant change in direction by the vendor.
"As one person involved in this whole process said to me, `It looks like hell just froze over," wrote Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux driver project lead and a Novell fellow, on the Linux Kernel Monkey Log.
Microsoft has spent years bashing the open-source model, even to the point of claiming that some open- source code violates technology patents that it holds for its own products.
The company had been so vocal in opposing the open-source model and related products that its own employees expected this week's news to come as a surprise.
"I have to say, even I would have been hard-pressed to think three years ago that we would consider contributing to the Linux Kernel," said Hank Janssen, director of program management at Microsoft's Open Source Community Center in a Monday blog post on a Microsoft Web site.
However, Janssen wants developers and observers to know that Microsoft's open-source code for Linux isn't just a gesture, but instead it's a significant amount of code that will be supported and enhanced going forward.
"Is this a Dump and Run from Microsoft? Absolutely not! We plan to enhance the functionality of this code, and we will continue to work with the Linux Community to support the drivers and to ensure continued interoperability," he wrote.
Observers say Microsoft's releases this week may be something of an acknowledgement that both customers and third-party vendors are embracing open-source products, and so the company doesn't want to lock itself out of opportunities involving open source.
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