Recently we wrote about the movement many technology companies are making to open source their patents and designs so that progress and influence are made priority. You know, instead of hoarding ideas as patent trolls merely for selfish profit. Now it seems Microsoft is joining what we call the Open Source Revolution, with the promise of releasing its ChakraCore source code.
The Chakra source code is a core piece of Microsoft’s Edge web browser, Internet Explorer successor, and the part that’s responsible for its running JavaScript code. Microsoft will share the code next month on the code sharing and collaboration site GitHub and will even accept code contributions.
As reported by Wired, this isn’t the same as making entire browser open source, but ChakraCore could be used for a range of applications, such as games, cloud services and devices. It could also be bundled with Linux so that independent developers can port the code to other platforms.
What does all of this mean? Microsoft is changing with the times. They recently admitted to using Linux to run some of its own operations. There’s also the idea that using open source software allows them to take advantages of improvements made to the code by others. Now Microsoft is paying it forward and open sourcing their own code, which further influences the field and allows others to improve their work.
This coming from such a big, iconic company also sends a big message to the world of technology: join in, or fall behind. It’s getting harder and harder for companies of all industries to keep up. Now it’s time for bigger companies to join with smaller developers and open up a little. Then the big fish and small fish form a symbiote, mutually beneficial relationship. The bigger company’s resources spur smaller companies to shape tech, which can later influence the bigger companies and their development of new products and services.
Everyone wins.
Source: Windows Blog, via Wired