Tom Hanrahan: Microsoft Takes Open Source Seriously

After his move from the Linux Foundation to Microsoft in June, Linux developer represented his new employer for the first time at two US Open Source fairs, and was exposed to criticism both personally and for his decision. Hanrahan's blog entry can be seen as a response to his critics and an attempt to explain what he hopes to achieve in his new position.

"Microsoft is in the spectrum of balance between proprietary and open source just like everyone else", he writes, going on to say that the corporation obviously tends towards the proprietary, but that he has evidence that Microsoft takes ist Open Source commitments seriously. Microsoft recently submitted two of its licenses to the Open Source Intiative (OSI) for certification.

At the same time, John Lam, the developer responsible for the Microsoft clones, Iron Ruby and Iron Python, announced in his blog that both would be released as Open Source projects. "Both of these efforts reflect serious attempts by Microsoft to participate in the development of truly Open Source software.", said Hanrahan in his blog, going on to describe the core of his work as producing " mutual respect and understanding between Microsoft and the Open Source community", and asking for support in his efforts.