Open Source

Microsoft and Open Source: An unofficial timeline

The profound cultural transformation towards open source did not happen overnight at Microsoft. This is an unofficial timeline of Microsoft's embrace of open source.

Hayden Barnes

May 23, 2020 • 8 min read

The profound cultural shift towards open source did at Microsoft was the result of sustained efforts within the company by open source advocates. Microsoft's shift is a model for positively transforming organizations. It is also a testament to the power of collaboration in technology. After Build 2020 it is now clear Microsoft is a Linux and open source company.

This is a very brief timeline of Microsoft's evolution into an open source leader. It is an attempt to provide historical context of a two-decades-long process. An open source version of this post is maintained on GitHub.

This is not endorsed by Microsoft, Canonical, or any person, company, or project mentioned here.

Timeline

2002

Microsoft begins experimenting with 'shared source', including SSCLI, the core of .NET

2004

WiX, the first project from Microsoft under an OSS approved license, is released
Begins cross-licensing software patents with Linux vendors

2005

F# released under the Apache 2.0 license

2006

CodePlex announced
Ports PHP to Windows, upstreams code under PHP license
Partners with Novell to improve open source interoperability

2007

Open Source Initiative approves the Microsoft Public License (MS-PL) and Microsoft Reciprocal License (MS-RL)
Provides access to Windows NT kernel source for research to universities
Open sources IronRuby and IronPython under Microsoft Public License
Open sources xunit under Microsoft Public License
Reaches agreement with EU to reduce costs of licensing patents and specifications
Scheduled to exit US DOJ antitrust oversight, voluntarily agrees to extended oversight

2008

Forms Open Web Foundation with Google, Facebook, Sun, IBM, Apache, and others
Joins Apache Software Foundation
Releases source for Singularity, an experimental OS to CodePlex
Begins distributing the open source jQuery JavaScript library with Visual Studio
Acquires Powerset, it's first open source acquisition, upstreams code from HBase to Apache Hadoop

2009

Begins contributing to Linux kernel
Forms independent CodePlex Foundation, later known as Outercurve Foundation to promote open source
Open sources ASP.NET MVC under the Microsoft Public License
Apologizes after download on website is found to have GPL code, properly open sources download
Promises not to enforce patents against open source implementations of C#, e.g. Mono
Settles a dispute with TomTom over FAT32 software patents, avoiding further conflict with open source
Reaches settlement with EU to provide users a choice of web browsers on Windows installation
Platform Strategy Group begins an internal push for embracing open source
"Burning the Ships: Transforming Your Company's Culture Through Intellectual Property Strategy" is published on Microsoft's embrace of open collaboration
"Has Microsoft lost its war on open source?" InfoWorld

2010

Signs Joomla! Contributor Agreement and upstreams improvements
Relicenses IronRuby and IronPython under Apache License 2.0
"Microsoft: 'We love open source'" Network World

2011

Acquires Skype, maintains Linux client
Begins contributing code to Samba
Exits antitrust oversight by US DOJ
Ports Node.js to Windows, upstreams code under Apache 2.0
📰 "Microsoft Embraces Elephant of Open Source" Wired

2012

Azure begins hosting Linux virtual machines
Codeplex supports git
Begins contributing to git and collaborates with GitHub on LibGit2
Ports Apache Hadoop to Windows, upstreams code under MIT
Open sources ASP.NET, MCV, Razor, and Web API under Apache 2.0
Open sources React Extensions and IL2JS under Apache 2.0
Forms Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc.
Releases TypeScript under Apache 2.0, first Microsoft project on GitHub
Canonical closes Ubuntu bug #1
📰 "Microsoft opens up" O'Rielly

2013

Steve Ballmer resigns
VM Depot announced, community-driven repository of Linux and BSD virtual machines for Azure
Microsoft challenges broad US warrant for overseas e-mails and helps create a new law improving e-mail privacy
xunit transferred to Outercurve Foundation, relicensed under Apache 2.0
📰 "Microsoft's Open Source Company Is a Year Old. But What Is It?" Wired

2014

Satya Nadella appointed CEO
The full .NET stack, Microsoft's flagship development toolkit, is open sourced and contributed to .NET Foundation
Implements AllJoyn support in Windows, contributes code upstream
Creates official GitHub presence
Releases Wireless Display Adapter, first hardware device to use embedded Linux
Contributes to OpenJDK
"Microsoft loves Linux." - Satya Nadella
📰 "More open-source at Microsoft? You'd better believe it" VentureBeat

2015

Visual Studio Code released, releases Linux build
Co-founds Node.js Foundation
Joins R Foundation
Forms Open Source Programs Office, tasked with enabling and normalizing open source across the company
Open sources Matter Center, Microsoft's legal practice management software
Open sources Chakra, legacy Microsoft Edge’s JavaScript engine
📰 "How Open Source Is Shaping Microsoft's Future" RedmondMag

2016

Windows Subsystem for Linux announced in partnership with Canonical
Joins Linux Foundation
Open sources PowerShell, releases Linux build
Begins porting Sysinternals to Linux
Acquires Xamarin, relicenses Mono under MIT license
Acquires LinkedIn, maintains Apache Kafka as open source
SQL Server released for Linux
Begins hosting Linux Foundation courses on edX
SONiC released, based on Debian GNU/Linux
Begins opening Reactors worldwide for use by entrepreneurs and open source communities
"The company has become an enthusiastic supporter of Linux and of open source and a very active member of many important projects." - Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of The Linux Foundation
📰 "Why Microsoft is turning into an open-source company" ZDNet

2017

Satya Nadella releases "Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone" describing his vision for an open and collaborative Microsoft
Forms Open Source Programs
Joins Open Source Initiative
Joins Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Joins MariaDB Foundation
Acquires Deis
Open sources Git Virtual File System (GVFS), the work done moving Windows to git
Opens Microsoft Store to open source applications
Better privacy controls, privacy dashboard, and diagnostic data transparency introduced in Windows
Announces Linux development with C++ in Visual Studio
Gives keynote at Open Source Summit North America
Moves Windows development to git
📺 Microsoft Loves Open Source: Becoming the Largest Contributor - GitHub Universe 2017
📰 "How Microsoft Is Shifting Focus to Open Source" The New Stack

Satya Nadella gives background on Microsoft transformation

2018

Joins Open Innovation Network, cross-licenses 60,000 patents with open source community
Acquires GitHub
"We are all in on open source." - Satya Nadella
GitHub Actions is released, providing free CI/CD for open source projects
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 announced powered by Linux kernel
Begins using Citus and PostgreSQL on Ubuntu to analyze telemetry from Windows test builds on employee devices
PowerShell released as a snap
OpenSSH included in Windows
Shifts their mobile application strategy to Android, begins contributing to Android developer ecosystem
Windows Calculator released as open source
📰 "Microsoft may be the world's largest open source contributor" TechRepublic

2019

Visual Studio Code released as a snap
GitHub announces GitHub Sponsors, lowers prices
Edge browser released based on open source Chromium
Linux surpasses Windows usage on Azure
Begins adopting open source-style collaboration internally
Teams released for Linux
Acquires Citus Data, maintains open source project
Joins OpenChain
Admitted to Linux-distros security mailing list
Files amicus brief at the US Supreme Court in support of open source and Linux
Creates Open Application Model with Alibaba Cloud as a Open Web Foundation project
Releases new Windows Terminal and PowerToys as open source
Published exFAT as open specification, contributes patents to OIN, and upstreams driver to Linux kernel
Stores all public GitHub repos for 1,000 years in Svalbard, Norway
Joins Unified Patents Open Source Zone to defend open source from patent trolls
Announces Android-based smartphone, Surface Duo, with a Linux kernel
Announces Microsoft Defender for Linux
Open sources SPTAG, a crucial search algorithm used by Microsoft
Open sources SandDance, a data visualization tool
Open sources the Microsoft C++ Standard Library
Open sources Interpret ML
Open sources Quantum Development Kit, a quantum computing SDK
Satya Nadella speaks at Red Hat Summit
Richard Stallman speaks at Microsoft, states "we should not maintain a burning grudge over actions that ended years ago"
Linux Torvalds quoted at Linux Plumbers Conference as saying Microsoft "have changed"
JS Foundation and Node.js Foundation merge to form OpenJS Foundation, Microsoft contributes Electron to OpenJS Foundation
Scott Hanselman gives keynote at NDC London laying out Microsoft's open source vision
📰 "Microsoft: The open source company" Ars Technica

2020

Acquires npm, the Node package manager
Hosts WSLConf, the first conferenced dedicated to WSL
Microsoft president Brad Smith admits being wrong about open source
Edge browser port to Linux seen at Build
Pushes improvements to Chromium upstream
Releases open source Windows Package Manager
Open sources dataset to help fight COVID-19-related cybersecurity threats
Open sources Java extension for SQL Server
Open sources MSQuic, a Windows NT kernel library for QUIC
Open sources Petridish, a neural architecture search algorithm for deep learning
Open sources Project Rocket, a software stack to perform live video analysis by AI/ML
Open sources Project Bonsai, a machine teaching service
Open sources Application Inspector, cross-platform source code security analyzer
Open sources TensorWatch, a debugging tool for AI and deep learning
Open sources Project Verona, a memory-safe research language
Upstreams open source improvements to QNNX natural language model
Linux-based Azure Sphere OS released
Announces plans to open source Fluid Framework
Announces Python for Excel
Ad features Ubuntu on Surface Book 3
📰 "Microsoft’s romance with open source software is on display at Build 2020" Ars Technica

Known Open Source Collaborations

Canonical
Red Hat
SuSE
Debian
IBM
Oracle
Google
Chef
Puppet
Redis Labs
Elastic
Samsung
Cloudera
Docker
Nokia
HashiCorp
PostgreSQL
Kali Linux
Whitewater Foundry
Allianz
React
Flutter
HashiCorp
Nvidia
BMW
Apache Cassandra
Apache Kafka
Apache Hadoop
Apache Spark
Linux Foundation
Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Eclipse Foundation
OpenDaylight
Open Container Initiative
R Consortium
F# Foundatoin
.NET Foundation
Open API Initiative
Confidential Computing Consortium
OpenChain
TODO Group
Open Source Initiative
Apache Software Foundation
iZootoo
Linux Containers on Windows
Azure Arc
Azure Databricks
Azure Linux virtual machines
Azure Linux containers
Azure-tuned Linux kernel
Azure Spring Cloud
Azure DevOps
Azure HDinsight
GitHub Actions
Microsoft Defender for Linux
StorSimple

Select Open Source Projects

The list below is incomplete. opensource.microsoft.com current lists 1,155 open source projects at Microsoft and it would not be possible to curate them all here.

Here is a list of selected projects:

Dev Tools

.NET

.NET Project
Roslyn - .NET Compiler
MSBuild

Web Dev Tools

Edge dev tools
Playwright - Node library to automate Chromium, Firefox and WebKit with a single API
Blazor

AI/ML/Robotics

Project Moab
TensorWatch - A debugging and visualization tool designed for data science, deep learning and reinforcement learning
Light Gradient Boosting Machine
CNTK - A unified deep learning toolkit
AirSim - Open source simulator for autonomous vehicles built on Unreal Engine / Unity

Database

Cloud

Azure CLI
Open Enclave SDK - A hardware-agnostic open source library for developing applications that utilize hardware enclaves.

Games

Windows

Other

WorldWide Telescope - A visualization environment that brings together imagery from the world's best ground- and space-based telescopes
Project Mu - The UEFI core used in Microsoft Surface and Hyper-V

Programming Languages

TypeScript - Programming language similar to JavaScript, among the most popular on GitHub
Bosque - An experiment in regularized design for a machine assisted rapid and reliable software development lifecycle
Verona - Research programming language for concurrent ownership
SPTAG - A library for fast approximate nearest neighbor search
P - A language for asynchronous event-driven programming

More Open Source at Microsoft

Historic Open Source Contributions

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