Well at least as far as the open source do-goodie folks are concerned given that Microsoft announced today that it was submitting 20,000 lines of code for possible inclusion in the Linux source tree. I can already hear the cries of monopolistic pollution of the Linux purity from those that think Microsoft is a leopard that can’t change its spots.
The thing is that Microsoft isn’t a leopard and it has shown over the last little while that it can be a contributor to open source project – for the good of the community. In this case the submitted code is for three Microsoft developed Linux drivers meant to improve the integration of Linux and Windows. From the Microsoft press release
Today, in a break from the ordinary, Microsoft released 20,000 lines of device driver code to the Linux community. The code, which includes three Linux device drivers, has been submitted to the Linux kernel community for inclusion in the Linux tree. The drivers will be available to the Linux community and customers alike, and will enhance the performance of the Linux operating system when virtualized on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V.
As Mary Jo Foley put it today – Pigs do fly.
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