Microsoft allows GPL

Along with its surprise funding of Apache, Microsoft has updated some aspects of its "Open Specification Promise" and - surprise - people are positive about it.

Microsoft is sponsoring the Apache Foundation which makes the leading web server. Sources elsewhere on the web report the sponsorship at $100,000, and explain that this gives Microsoft no direct influence over the open source project.

This is positive, and if you want a perspective on how big a turnaround it is, here's Bruce Perens reminding us that in 2002, Microsoft was all set to sue Apache and other open source projects for patent infringement.

But the big news is an update to Microsoft's Open Specification Promise, a scheme under which it promised, in February, to allow non-commercial implementations of its protocols and formats.

The OSP was criticised for barring commercial applications, and not allowing GPL licences. Now both are in, according to a report on Groklaw.

"We have established a clarification to the OSP that guarantees developer rights to build software of any kind and for any purpose using these specifications, including commercial use", says Sam Ramji. Microsoft's senior director of platform strategy.

Groklaw has the text from Microsoft's OSP FAQ that clarifies the GPL is covered.

As if all that wasn't enough, where did Ramji make the announcement? At the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCon) where he is a keynote speaker.

Times really are changing, I think.