Everyone knows that Microsoft absolutely loves Linux right? Well, that's debatable but hey they did just reach down the back of the sofa and chuck GNOME some cash.
As part of their ongoing Free and Open Source Software Fund (FOSS Fund for short), part of their Microsoft Open Source Programs Office, Microsoft engineers participate in selecting various projects they feel could benefit from a little extra help. No strings attached, no big fancy marketing of Microsoft trying to do something nefarious, just Microsoft workers voting to give out some money to free and open source projects they find interesting.
Just a few days ago it was announced that GNOME was the latest winner of $10,000. Previous winners include systemd, OpenStreetMap, QEMU and various others.
Every month they start a new selection process, which results in a new project getting the $10,000 bonus which is usually paid in 10 monthly installments of $1,000. There's only a few requirements to be considered including:
- The open source project must be used by Microsoft.
- Project is actively prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion.
- The project must have an OSI-approved open source license
- Needs to have a way to receive funds that our procurement and legal teams are happy with (GitHub Sponsors is great!)
- the project cannot be owned by a Microsoft employee
As a side-note, it's quite interesting to see that even Microsoft see the OSI as the go-to for proper open source licenses.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments
The open source project must be used by Microsoft.What part of GNOME is used by Microsoft? Honest question.
4 Likes, Who?
And there it is:
> GitHub Sponsors is great!
This was just a microsoft ad. And such a cheap one too.
Last edited by ShabbyX on 21 June 2022 at 12:45 pm UTC
> GitHub Sponsors is great!
This was just a microsoft ad. And such a cheap one too.
Last edited by ShabbyX on 21 June 2022 at 12:45 pm UTC
4 Likes, Who?
Why does pocket money like this grant Microsoft so much PR fuss? There are companies out there that fund GNOME development with multiplies of that amount *each month*.
12 Likes, Who?
Why does pocket money like this grant Microsoft so much PR fuss? There are companies out there that fund GNOME development with multiplies of that amount *each month*.It reminds me of them investing money in competitors in the past in order to show that they really truly weren't a monopoly honest, so if I had to guess, maybe it's somehow related to the antitrust issues of old?
1 Likes, Who?
The open source project must be used by Microsoft.What part of GNOME is used by Microsoft? Honest question.
I haven't gone into details with expectations, but I would imagine this will end up related to WSL, or Azure DevOps. GNOME probably refers to GNOME Foundation, which does more than just the desktop manager.
Well, it says on their page:
It also powers Ubuntu which is the first Linux work environment supported at Microsoft
So I assume that some people at Microsoft are using Ubuntu as their work environment.
1 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Jun 20, 2022
I'm always suspicious of things like this. What is Microsoft's intent?
4 Likes, Who?
Wow, that's a low amount. Besides being at most a rounding error for microsoft, it wont pay a GNOME developer for even half a year.
6 Likes, Who?
Omg how intensely I hate that company. I could describe why but Liam would only have to censor me for foul language.
0 Likes
As a side-note, it's quite interesting to see that even Microsoft see the OSI as the go-to for proper open source licenses.Note that Microsoft (and GitHub) are both OSI “Maintainer”-level sponsors, meaning they each granted the OSI 10 000 USD (per year, I guess).
1 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Jun 20, 2022
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?As a side-note, it's quite interesting to see that even Microsoft see the OSI as the go-to for proper open source licenses.Note that Microsoft (and GitHub) are both OSI “Maintainer”-level sponsors, meaning they each granted the OSI 10 000 USD (per year, I guess).
1 Likes, Who?
Wow, that's a low amount. Besides being at most a rounding error for microsoft, it wont pay a GNOME developer for even half a year.
I know, right? Not to be a negative parade Rainer, it’s great that they give go FLOSS project, but they’re not exactly splurging. For a company like MS, it’s not even the pocket change’s pocket change.
It’s like when people hail e.g. Bill Gates or Jeff Besos for giving a million dollars to some really worthwhile cause. But in reality, it’s about as generous as if I were to give 5 kroner (about 0.5 EUR) to some charity. Actually, it’s not even that. They likely earned thrice that amount in the span of time it took to press the “send” button for the donation 😄
Last edited by Appelsin on 20 June 2022 at 8:43 pm UTC
5 Likes, Who?
GustyGhost Jun 21, 2022
One possibility is that GNOME is causing schisms within the FOSS ecosystem by shoehorning their own standards. Microsoft may just be fanning the flames.
2 Likes, Who?
I don't think this is a big thing, partly because the sum is small, but mainly because it seems to be from this little internal Microsoft scheme where the employees get to vote to throw some change to an open source project, and they voted for this one this time, so it's not actually a matter of MS corporate policy at all. Any tea leaves or entrails we might try to read vis-a-vis MS' intentions with this would come up empty because MS has no intentions here, other than to spend negligible dollars on a minor employee satisfaction schtick.
2 Likes, Who?
I'm surprised they didn't throw money to KDE, since Windows 11 ui is a carbon copy of the plasma desktop. It was the the least they could do.
4 Likes, Who?
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