Microsoft pledges love and money to open source
OSCON After years of hostility towards Free Software Foundation (FSF) licensing (here and here) Microsoft has announced the first in a series of PHP patches - and it's using an FSF license. — Microsoft told The Reg it's submitted a patch …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had previously explored shared-source licensing discussions with the OSI while also asserting that open-source technology infringed 235 of its patents. The PHP contribution therefore carries more weight than a routine patch: it puts the company in an FSF-licensed development workflow associated with the community it had publicly challenged.
The move also follows Microsoft's public open-source outreach through Port 25, making a concrete upstream contribution a clearer test of whether that outreach extends beyond messaging.
First-order effects
- PHP maintainers receive Microsoft's first submitted patches under an FSF license, giving them a contribution to assess within the project's established development process.
- Microsoft publicly ties part of its engineering work to an FSF license, rather than limiting its open-source posture to shared-source licensing discussions.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's developer-relations and legal positions face a sharper credibility test from PHP contributors, given the company's earlier patent-infringement claims against open source.
- Other proprietary software vendors seeking open-source developer goodwill gain a visible example that participation is judged by contribution terms and upstream engagement, not only by public statements.
Third-order effects
- If major vendors repeat FSF-licensed upstream contributions, governed open-source projects gain leverage to set the terms on which commercial participants collaborate.
- The episode points toward open source becoming a developer-distribution channel that proprietary vendors must engage through community licensing and contribution practices, even amid unresolved patent disputes.
The trend: Large proprietary vendors are beginning to seek developer reach through governed open-source participation, with license choice serving as the proof point of commitment.