Almost 15 years after Steve Ballmer had compared Linux and the open source community to cancer, Microsoft announced today that it was joining the Linux Foundation as a platinum member.

The news isn't surprising in the big picture. For several years Microsoft has been getting friendlier with the Linux community, being one of the most active contributors to the Linux kernel project.

Microsoft embraced open-source in recent years

As a whole, the company had embraced the open source software model since Satya Nadella took over as CEO. Previously, Microsoft had open-sourced various tools or core technologies behind some of its proprietary software. This includes Edge's JavaScript engine, the .NET compiler, TypeScript, Xamarin, and more.

Additionally, Microsoft also partnered with Canonical to bring Ubuntu on Windows 10, brought SQL Server to Linux, and worked with the FreeBSD, Debian, Red Hat, and SUSE projects to release images for Azure.

After all the technical support Microsoft has been providing to Linux projects, it was only a formality for the Redmond company to officially join the Foundation's ranks.

"Linux Foundation membership underscores what Microsoft has demonstrated time and again," said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director for the Linux Foundation. "Membership is an important step for Microsoft, but it’s perhaps bigger news for the open source community, which will benefit from the company’s sustained contributions."

Besides the Linux Foundation, Microsoft is also part of the Node.js Foundation, the Eclipse Foundation, the Open Container Initiative, the R Consortium, and one of its execs is currently in charge of the Apache Foundation.

Google joins the .NET Foundation

Microsoft announced it was joining the Linux Foundation today, at Connect(), Microsoft annual developer conference.

The company also "officially" announced Visual Studio for Mac. The news leaked on Monday when an employee accidentally published a blog post on the MSDN portal.

At the same conference, Google joined the .NET Foundation in a role on the Technical Steering Committee.

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