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Microsoft’s own SourceForge-like repository of open source projects, CodePlex, celebrated its third anniversary recently. According to Sara Ford, CodePlex program manager, the site is accepted and welcomed among the fans of open source and Linux software.
Sara Ford has been in Australia for Microsoft Tech-Ed. She took time from her busy schedule to speak with iTWire.
CodePlex kicked off on June 27th 2006. At that time it hosted 28 projects, three of which were authored by Ford herself. Three years later the number of projects available exceeds 11,000 and have been contributed by developers worldwide.
While every project builds and runs on Microsoft Windows (and some on the Xbox) the fact most every project is .NET-based means Linux users, armed with Mono, can find something of use too. Some projects are coded in PHP and Python making them platform-agnostic.
I asked Ford how she responds to cynical comments that CodePlex is just a veneer of open source friendliness when coming from a proprietary, closed-source, patent-filing company like Microsoft.
Ford was genuinely taken aback; she told iTWire she has not ever had anyone leverage such criticism at the site.
Instead, she explained, the site is recognised as a legitimate member of the open source community. Only just recently, she said, she had presented at OSCon, the O’Reilly Open Source Conference. Not only was she well received but she even describes the conference as one of the greatest weeks in her Microsoft career expressing in her blog she aspires to be like Jono Bacon, the Community Manager for Ubuntu.
Although Sara Ford has been with CodePlex since launch she conceded perhaps such negative views may have circulated when the site first opened.
However, in the three years since she has no doubt CodePlex has come to be genuinely perceived as a valid and reputable purveyor of open source goods.
CodePlex supports the popular Linux subversion revision control system, as well as a raft of OSI-approved open source licenses like the GNU GPL, Apache License 2.0, New BSD License and others including Microsoft’s own public and reciprocal licenses.
CodePlex has gained further prominence in Microsoft’s vision for the future with announcements from Ford and other Microsoft representatives about the new CodePlex Foundation.
Mind you, even if such criticism has not made its way to Microsoft’s ears, the motivations behind the CodePlex Foundation are not yet fully trusted by all.
David Bass
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