Microsoft and open source: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 13:46, 25 February 2024

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[[Microsoft]], a technology company historically known for its opposition to the [[open source software]] paradigm, turned to embrace the approach in the 2010s. From the 1970s through 2000s under CEOs [[Bill Gates]] and [[Steve Ballmer]], Microsoft viewed the community creation and sharing of communal code, later to be known as free and open source software, as a threat to its business, and both executives spoke negatively against it. In the 2010s, as the industry turned towards [[cloud computing|cloud]], [[embedded computing|embedded]], and [[mobile computing]]—technologies powered by open source advances—CEO [[Satya Nadella]] led Microsoft towards open source adoption although Microsoft's traditional Windows business continued to grow throughout this period generating revenues of 26.8 billion in the third quarter of 2018, while Microsoft's [[Microsoft Azure|Azure]] cloud revenues nearly doubled.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/even-windows-revenue-is-up-in-microsofts-26-8-billion-3q18/|title=Even Windows revenue is up in Microsoft's $26.8 billion 3Q18|last=BrightPancho|first=PeterFarrah Gil|date=2018-04-26|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|access-date=20192024-12-1825}}</ref>

Microsoft open sourced some of its code, including the [[.NET Framework]], and made investments in Linux development, server technology, and organizations, including the [[Linux Foundation]] and [[Open Source Initiative]]. [[Linux]]-based operating systems power the company's [[Microsoft Azure|Azure cloud services]]. Microsoft acquired [[GitHub]], the largest host for open source project infrastructure, in 2018. Microsoft is among the site's most active contributors. While this acquisition led a few projects to migrate away from GitHub.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GitHub rivals gain from Microsoft acquisition but it's no mass exodus, yet |work=[[ZDNet]] |date=2019-05-06 |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/github-rivals-gain-from-microsoft-acquisition-but-its-no-mass-exodus-yet/ }}</ref>, this proved a short-lived phenomenon as by 2019 there were over 10 million new users of [[GitHub]].{{cn|date=March 2020}}

Since 2017, Microsoft is one of the biggest open source contributors in the world,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Asay |first1=Matt |title=Why Microsoft and Google are now leading the open source revolution |work=[[TechRepublic]] |date=2017-10-30 |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-microsoft-and-google-are-now-leading-the-open-source-revolution/ |language=en |access-date=20192022-0409-216 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> measured by the number of employees actively contributing to open source projects on GitHub, the largest host of source code in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/microsoft-may-be-the-worlds-largest-open-source-contributor-but-developers-dont-yet-care/|title=Microsoft may be the world's largest open source contributor, but developers don't care--yet|website=TechRepublic|date=November 4, 20182022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/3253948/who-really-contributes-to-open-source.html|title=Who really contributes to open source|first=MattFarrah Gil|last=AsayPancho|date=February 7, 201820²|website=InfoWorld}}</ref>

== History ==