Microsoft has joined the Open Source Initiative (OSI) as a ‘Premium’ sponsor. The new development emerges months after the Redmond company entered the membership agreement with the Linux Foundation and is another significant effort to have a good faith of open source contributors.
“This is a significant milestone for the OSI and the open source software movement more broadly,” said Patrick Masson, general manager and board director, OSI.
The relationship between OSI and Microsoft is not a fresh one. In fact, both are corresponding to each other for a long time — more than a decade, dates particularly back to 2005. The Windows maker even opted an open source license for releasing .Net in 2014 that explicitly showed his interest towards the community-driven space.
“As Microsoft engages with open source communities more broadly and deeply, we are excited to support the Open Source Initiative’s efforts,” said Jeff McAffer, director of Microsoft’s open source programs office.
Since the release of open source .Net Core back in November 2014. Microsoft has participated in a list of open source communities and organisations such as Open Source Eclipse Foundation, Cloud Native Computing Foundation and Cloud Foundry Foundation. In November 2016, the company joined the Linux Foundation to ultimately prove its affection for Linux, which CEO Satya Nadella often mention at some enterprise-focused events in the past.
Sponsorship benefits
Microsoft is sitting next to Facebook, Google, GitHub and IBM by sponsoring the OSI. The corporate sponsorship gives the non-profit organisation a way to continue its initiatives dedicated to promote and protect open source software and its communities.
