Microsoft continues to show signs of adopting new business strategies by supporting both cloud computing and, somewhat surprisingly, open-source initiatives. The Redmond, Virginia, company announced the open-sourcing of its .Net Micro Framework 4.0, which is aimed at enabling .Net developers to execute applications for small devices.
Still, Microsoft remained a step shy of fully embracing open-source by withholding the TCP/IP stack and cryptography stack from the being open-sourced. "While the license will allow customers to take the code and make specialized versions to fit their needs, customers told us they wanted Microsoft to stay involved to avoid any possible fragmentation of the platform," explained Peter Galli, the company's senior open-source community manager. Version 4.0 is available under an Apache 2.0 license.
The TCP/IP stack is a third-party software that is being licensed by EBSNet to Microsoft. Due to licensing restrictions, Microsoft advises developers to request rights to access or distribute its source code from the original publisher.
The latest version of .Net Micro Framework will be available under the Apache 2.0 license. The product's source will be open to developers, who will soon gain access to Base Class libraries and CLR code. The framework is continuously being developed through the participation of a community of .Net developers. Observers believe that the community that Microsoft builds will be eventually composed of Microsoft and non-Microsoft contributors.
Last month, the tech company announced the guidelines for submission of open-source projects to the CodePlex Foundation, which it funds specifically for the development and promotion of open-source licenses. CodePlex was formed in September this year with an initial funding of $1 million.
"It's an interesting decision on Microsoft's part and one that seems to acknowledge the benefits of open source in terms of visibility and distribution," said Stephen O'Grady, an analyst at RedMonk.
