Microsoft's Love-Hate Relationship with Open Source

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Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates (Gates) and his friend Paul Allen (Allen) in 1975. Together, they developed a computer programming language called Altair BASIC, an improved version of BASIC and sold it to MITS Computer , Microsoft's first customer. The company's big break came in August 1980 when it was chosen by IBM to create an Operating System (OS) for its first PC. As Microsoft did not have an OS of its own, the company purchased the rights to one from Seattle Computer Products for US$75,000. Originally called Q-DOS, the product was renamed MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) and modified for IBM's purposes...

Microsoft was known for its love-hate relationship with the OSS community. Historically, the company had been antithetical to OSS and had kept a close guard on its software code so that its products were not copied. It created a closed source ecosystem for developers and developed software products that were entirely proprietary. Microsoft followed a license-based Commercial Software Development (CSD) business model which was based on customers agreeing to pay a fee to license software developed and distributed by the company. Microsoft also supported the role of the patents in technology innovation and, over the years, issued several software technology patents that became a vital component of the Microsoft business model...

The open source revolution threatened to undermine Microsoft's dominance in the software industry and OSS was seen as a genuine alternative to proprietary software. The company continued to face intense competition from FOSS projects such as Linux and OpenOffice. Even major technology vendors such as IBM, Apple, Oracle, Google, and Facebook supported the open approach by adopting Linux and other open source programs. Open source proponents tried to convince governments worldwide to mandate the use of OSS in their purchase and deployment of software products...

In the first decade of the new millennium, open source increasingly became a part of Microsoft's DNA. Not only was Microsoft increasingly hosting open source projects of its own, but it was also developing major parts of its web infrastructure in the open. According to Hilf, "The perspectives on OSS at Microsoft have evolved to the point where Microsoft's open source strategy is no longer just locked in a single 'lab' on campus - now OSS is an important part of many product groups and strategies across the company. We have become increasingly clear on where we work with open source - development methodologies, projects, partners, products, and communities - and where our products compete with commercial open source companies or platforms Today, there are engineering and business leaders across the company, myself included, looking at how to drive interoperability for customers and as a lever for new growth."...

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