Microsoft has been working hard in recent years to dispel the notion that the company is an enemy of open source. Occasionally, though, some actions contradict this, but these are exceptions to the overall rule.
Whether it comes as a surprise to many of you, Microsoft is paying close attention to open source. The company supports many open source initiatives and is a member of several open-source organizations.
For example, do you know that Microsoft participates in both the Linux Foundation and the Linux kernel security mailing list? Moreover, Microsoft even released its own Linux distribution.
Furthermore, Microsoft engineers have even contributed code to the Linux kernel. Of course, when it makes sense for the company, like in the case of Azure.
But let us say a few words about Microsoft Open Source Programs Office and, more particularly, the FOSS Fund.
Every month the Microsoft FOSS Fund allows Microsoft engineers to directly participate in the nomination and selection process for communities and projects that are important to them.
In other words, Microsoft’s employees who participate in projects that Microsoft does not manage are eligible to select projects for the fund to assist create an open contribution culture across the company.
As a result, the project with the most votes receives $10,000 in one-time funding to support its operations.
Emma Irwin, Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, announced on Twitter that the GNOME project would be awarded this amount as the winner for the month of May.
For your information, the previous two winners of Microsoft’s $10,000 prize were the well-known system and service manager systemd and Leaflet, a popular open-source JavaScript framework for mobile-friendly interactive maps.
The reward to the GNOME project may not come as a surprise since a Reddit user posing as a Microsoft employee who wishes to stay anonymous shared:
Our Linux workstation compliance software only works on Ubuntu LTS, so GNOME is the defacto standard DE for employees who want to use Linux.
Whatever the reason, it is fantastic that such an important project for the Linux community as GNOME Desktop Environment has been supported in its development. In our opinion, Microsoft’s FOSS Fund program is a fantastic initiative that we can only warmly welcome.
And of course, congratulations to GNOME!
