InternetMicrosoft Expands Open Source Presence

Pledging "open and honest" work with the community, the software giant throws in with Apache and other groups -- but not everyone is likely to be as welcoming.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- There was a time when open source was the antithesis of everything that Microsoft stood for. But these days, that's no longer the case, it says. Sam Ramji, senior director of platform strategy at Microsoft, took the stage here at OSCON, offering the promise of collaboration with the software giant while announcing a number of new, open source initiatives. His biggest news is that Microsoft is joining the open source Apache Software Foundation (ASF) as a platinum sponsor. "We think this opens up a new chapter for Microsoft," Ramji said. "This is a big thing -- it's an endorsement of the Apache way." RELATED ARTICLES Microsoft: The Open Source Company Microsoft: We're Open (Source) For Business Zend Brings Microsoft Into the PHP Fold Open Source Group: Microsoft 'Promise' Not Enough For more stories on this topic: The ASF runs a number of critical open source efforts, including its namesake Apache HTTP Web server -- a rival to Microsoft's own IIS solution. The group also runs the Apache Axis Web services effort, which is now compatible to the Microsoft Web Services stack. Ramji also said Microsoft has been working with the Apache POI project, which develops APIs for using pure Java to manipulate various file formats based upon Microsoft's OLE 2 Compound Document format. Those include most Microsoft Office formats, except for the more recent Office Open XML formats, for which Microsoft... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

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