Microsoft Play Nice Like Google
In a bid to allign themselves with Google’s ‘free for all’ development style, Microsoft have released a number of pages of documentation to further facilitate open source development of related products on the Windows platform.
Microsoft aim to release 30,000 pages of documentation for Windows (both desktop and server products) that until now were only available to trusted partners through a trade secret license. Doing this they are making available a number of its software patents “on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, at low royalty rates.”
The four main pillars it is declaring for this move are:
(1) ensuring open connections
(2) promoting data portability
(3) enhancing support for industry standards
(4) fostering more open engagement with customers and the industry, including open source communities.
Can open source developers learn to trust Microsoft again?
