Microsoft has joined the Linux Foundation

Microsoft has joined the Linux Foundation as a Platinum member. This announcement was made at Microsoft’s Connect developer conference held in New York. Certainly, this joining has raised a few eyebrows seeing that the Redmond-based tech leader has been acknowledged for proprietary software. And this is an exact opposite of what Linux identity; however it looks like things are changing. Under the leadership of Satya Nadella, we have witnessed Microsoft develop a lot, and the company has been contributing to many Linux Foundation projects lately.

The Linux Foundation’s announcement revealed that Microsoft us slowly increasing its association with open source projects and communities. Currently, Microsoft is also a leading open source contributor on GitHub and earlier announced the open source Net Core1.0. Microsoft has also amalgamated with Canonical to get Ubuntu to Windows 10.

Regarding this, Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise Group said since Cloud Platform Company it aims to help developers attain more using the platforms and languages they have. The Linux Foundation is also home to several societies most innovative open source projects. Microsoft further added that it is excited to join The Linux Foundation and associate with the community to help developers capitalise on the shift to bright cloud and mobile experience.

Further, the executive director of The Linux Foundation Jim Zemlin said that Microsoft had seen great growth and maturity in its usage. Moreover, the company has become a keen supporter of Linux and open source and an active member of many significant projects. While membership is an important step for Microsoft, it is equally important for the open source community which stands to advantage from the company’s expanding.

Microsoft has been contributing to Linus foundation for quite some time including Node.js Foundation, Open Container Initiative, Open API Initiative, and OpenDaylight. Having said that, The Verge mentions to a comment of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer where he called the Linux cancer. Later he softened his comment by saying the threat from Linux has now in the rearview mirror