Microsoft creates open-source CodePlex Foundation

Microsoft creates open-source CodePlex Foundation

In its latest effort to embrace open source, Microsoft has created an open-source foundation of its own.

Microsoft today launched the CodePlex Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on the exchange of code and knowledge among software companies and open-source communities. It is an extension of Microsoft’s Codeplex.com open-source project hosting site, but Microsoft said the two are independent from one another.

Sam Ramji, who will be serving as the CodePlex Foundation interim president, called the foundation a “culmination” of what Microsoft has been working toward as an open-source strategy. He noted that Microsoft has increased its open-source participation, pointing out the company’s funding and code donations to the Apache Software Foundation, as well as Microsoft’s Open Source Technology Center’s (OSTC) cooperation with the PHP community.

“The increasing participation in open source at Microsoft led to internal discussions about initiating a new open-source foundation that would be sensitive to the needs of software developers who don’t always participate in open-source community projects,” Ramji said.

“Existing open-source foundations are mostly targeted at particular projects, such as the Mozilla Foundation. The CodePlex Foundation will complement the activities of other open-source foundations by addressing a full spectrum of software projects.”

When asked how an open-source foundation could have so much Microsoft involvement, Ramji said Microsoft and open source are no longer “antithetical, but work closely together.” The foundation hopes to increase its independence with funding from sources outside of Microsoft, he said.

The CodePlex Foundation will be different from other open-source foundations because it will focus on the contributions of copyrights along with code from individuals who work for software companies, Ramji said. The focus is to make sure it’s easy to grant software use rights on behalf of a company to a community.

“It’s a different dimension from what other foundations are focused on, where when we think about an open-source license, we really think about the specific copyright license,” Ramji said. “That’s just a copyright on the code itself, but some of the challenges in the practices between software companies and community projects have been how to clearly treat what’s contributed and who can use it. We hope to bring some clarity and coherence to that.”

Ramji added that one benefit of the foundation is that developers can work through the legalities to contribute to active open-source projects.

Ramji will also be leaving Microsoft effective Sept. 25 for what he said are personal reasons. However, he said that the OSTC, which he oversaw, will continue on under the leadership of Tom Hanrahan, who was formerly the director of engineering at the Linux Foundation and currently the OSTC's director.

The CodePlex Foundation is license, platform and technology agnostic. Microsoft gave initial funding for the CodePlex Foundation of US$1 million.

After the first hundred days of the foundation’s existence, a new executive director will be hired and new board members will be brought in. Microsoft and open-source community members will create a charter to help guide how the foundation will be run.