Microsoft and open source: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:13, 4 February 2020

Revision as of 20:18, 13 March 2020

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Microsoft, a technology company once known for its opposition to the [[open source software]] paradigm, turned to [[Embrace, extend, and extinguish|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 Azure cloud revenues nearly doubled its revenue.<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=Bright|first=Peter|date=2018-04-26|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|access-date=2019-12-18}}</ref> Microsoft open sourced some of its code, including the [[.NET framework]] and [[Visual Studio Code]], 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. This acquisition lead 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 phenomenaphenomenon because by 2019 there were over 10 million new users of GitHub.{{cn|date=March 2020}}

== History ==