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| Microsoft completely changes its tune about open-source development. |
If it wasn't odd enough that Microsoft Joined the Linux Foundation in 2016, Embedded Ubuntu code into Windows 10, and formed partnerships with Red Hat, Fedora, Cannonacle, and SUSE software companies, Microsoft is taking things a step further by joining the OIN initiative, or "Open Invention Network".
Under the leadership of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, The software giant has now made a massive 60,000 of its patents completely free for anyone to use and redistribute, without having to pay licensing fees.
In a recent blog post, Microsoft's Deputy General Erich Anderson had this to say:
"We know Microsoft's decision to join OIN may be viewed as surprising to some, as it is no secret that there has been friction in the past between Microsoft and the open source community over the issue of patents,"
No kidding. The Windows developer has had more friction with the open-source community than a CNC machine with a block of wood. Microsoft's history of patent lawsuits spans decades. As far as licensing fees, Microsoft has made an estimated 2.3 billion off of the code being borrowed by the Android platform alone.
former CEO Steve Ballmer has even been quoted saying that Linux is "Cancer", and that it "attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.".
The OIN was a group established by Linux developers to pool together legal resources to fight off Microsoft's numerous lawsuits specifically, so Microsoft now choosing to join the network is no small gesture of good will.
This is just the latest example of Microsoft not only turning over a new leaf, but up-ending the whole freakin' forest. Just this June, Microsoft -Under the leadership of Nadella- purchased GitHub for 7.5 billion dollars, despite heavy criticism from the open-source community, only for Microsoft to task its own in-house developers to contribute code to various open-source projects around the internet.
The OIN is no stranger to big --mainstream-- tech companies, of course. among its more than 2,650 members, IBM and Google are among its biggest contributors. Microsoft joining the OIN so late in the game is a testament to the open-source landscape becoming mainstream.
What's next? A Linux version of DirectX 12?
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