.NET Goes Open Source
Redmond joins the revolution by turning the .NET Core Runtime into a GitHub project.
Microsoft announced that it is releasing the .NET Core Runtime and libraries as open source code under an MIT license. Microsoft VP for Cloud and Enterprise Scott Guthrie writes in his blog that Redmond is open-sourcing the .NET Core Runtime, which includes “the CLR, Just-in-Time Compiler (JIT), Garbage Collector (GC), and core .NET base class libraries.”
The news follows a series of earlier announcements this year, marking a significant shift in the company’s relationship with the world of open source. In April, Microsoft launched the .NET Foundation, a non-profit group that would guide future development of .NET technologies. Leading open source developer (and creator of the Mono framework) Miguel de Icaza was even added to the .NET Foundation board. Also, the company has recently open-sourced code for ASP.NET, EF, Web API, NuGet, and the "Roslyn" C# and VB compilers.
The recent moves to embrace open source should help build better collaboration between Microsoft and community-based programmers. The company is also hoping that eliminating restrictions on the use of its technologies will lead to more widespread acceptance. As many commentators have pointed out, Microsoft has significantly changed its stance on open source since 2001, when then-CEO Steve Ballmer called Linux “… a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.” But actually Redmond figured out it couldn’t squelch open source software several years ago, and the change to better cooperation has been gradual. Acceptance picked up steam when Satya Nadella took over as the new Microsoft CEO; he even appeared recently beneath a giant projection of the words “Microsoft” and “Linux,” with a big red heart between them to affirm that “Microsoft Loves Linux.”
Issue 210/2018
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News
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 Released
The latest release is focused on hybrid cloud.
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Microsoft Releases a Linux-Based OS
The company is building a new IoT environment powered by Linux.
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Solomon Hykes Leaves Docker
In a surprise move, Solomon Hykes, the creator of Docker has left the company.
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Red Hat Celebrates 25th Anniversary with a New Code Portal
The company announces a GitHub page with links to source code for all its projects
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Gnome 3.28 Released
The latest GNOME rolls out with better contact management and new features for handling virtual machines.
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Install Firefox in a Snap on Linux
Mozilla has picked the Snap package system to deliver its application to Linux users.
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OpenStack Queens Released
The new release comes with new features for mission critical workloads.
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Kali Linux Comes to Windows
The Kali Linux developers even managed to run full blown XFCE desktop via WSL.
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Ubuntu to Start Collecting Some Data with Ubuntu 18.04
It will be an ‘opt-out’ feature.
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CNCF Illuminates Serverless Vision
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation announces a paper describing their model for a serverless ecosystem.