Didn't expect to be writing about Microsoft in this blog, but here we are. A bit late flagging this, from last week... but even Redmond is seeing the benefit of Open Source.Microsoft has announced the release of 20,000 lines of device driver code to the Linux community. It apparently includes three Linux device drivers, which have been submitted to the Linux kernel community for inclusion in the Linux tree.
The drivers are intended to enhance the performance of the Linux operating system when virtualised on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V.
Read Steve Subar's blog - from the Open Kernel Labs - for a good overview of the situation.
Welcoming the move, he points out:
It is certainly an improvement on previous Redmond positions on Open Source, for example Steve Balmer's notorious "Linux is a cancer" quote in the Chicago Sun-Times back in 2001.
Welcoming the move, he points out:
Whatever motives you might attribute to the Microsoft submission, you should remember that most virtualization platform suppliers, for enterprise, desktop and embedded applications, DO NOT typically make the effort to send patches and virtual device drivers upstream, and variously observe the letter of the license(s) governing patched code.Back to the announcement, Sam Ramji, senior director of Platform Strategy at Microsoft, is quoted as saying:
We are seeing Microsoft communities and open source communities grow together, which is ultimately of benefit to our customers. The Linux community, for example, has built a platform used by many customers. So 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.
A central part of our strategy is the work done in the OSTC (Microsoft's Open Source Technology Center), which we opened about three years ago. The OSTC has a deep technical expertise in Linux, UNIX and open source technologies, along with strong social connections into open source communities. We have learned a great deal from the various community leaders about how to effectively work together, and are eager to continue the dialogue.Microsoft describes the announcement, obviously tongue in cheek, as a "break from the ordinary".
It is certainly an improvement on previous Redmond positions on Open Source, for example Steve Balmer's notorious "Linux is a cancer" quote in the Chicago Sun-Times back in 2001.
As you said, you are reporting on this a bit late. In which case you might have dug a bit deeper and found that they were pressured into releasing the code because they were violating the GPL by linking their code with GPL'd code. Don't fall victim to all of M$'s spin.
Thanks for the comment Greg. For other readers' reference, I've just read this on The Register - Microsoft opened Linux-driver code after 'violating' GPL