Windows becomes open source software? Microsoft executives say it's possible

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According to InfoWorld, after Microsoft expressed support for open source code, Mark Russinovich, chief technology officer of its Azure cloud computing platform division, said at a conference that Microsoft may release Windows as open source software.

On Wednesday, Lashinovich described Microsoft's transformation from an open source skeptic to a supporter at Chef Conf 2015, a conference hosted by IT automation vendor Chef, where the main topic was IT infrastructure operations automation. He said open source is "no longer off-limits" at Microsoft, with about 20% of Azure virtual machines running Linux.

Microsoft also recently released .Net CoreCLR as open source software because it helps attract developers to use Microsoft's technology, Rushinovich explained. "We think of products like .Net as enabling technologies that attract people to start using other Microsoft solutions."

When asked by Wired editor Cade Metz whether Windows would eventually become open source software, Rushinovich responded, "It's certainly possible. Like I said, this is a new Microsoft right now."

Rushinovich described Microsoft's understanding of open source as a learning process. Microsoft once supported open source projects such as Apache Hadoop, but open source projects faced some challenges at the time, such as the time and effort required to release products as open source projects.

Of course, it's easy for a company executive to mention the possibility of open source products at a technology conference attended by developers, but actually releasing open source products may be another matter. If Windows becomes an open source product, Microsoft will lose considerable revenue, but it has other ways to generate revenue, such as selling Azure services. Other media reports say that Microsoft has generated billions of dollars by charging Android manufacturers for patent fees.

Although Microsoft has contributed a number of products to GitHub, such as ASP.Net, it remains to be seen whether it will take a bold step like making Windows open source.