Apple Swift 2.0 will be open source
Apple is a company that embraces closed ideology. Its operating systems only work on certain hardware which it selects and sells. Its App Store features our-way-or-the-highway guidelines. Worst of all, on iOS, the user cannot even choose a default browser or email client. Hell, even when you use a browser other than Safari, it must use WebKit.
Today, however, this archaic ideology may be softening -- slightly. Among the hubbub of all the flashier WWDC announcements, Apple announced something miraculous -- its Swift 2.0 programming language is going open source. Yes, really.
"In addition to new features, the big news is that Apple will be making Swift open source later this year. We are all incredibly excited about this, and look forward to giving you a lot more information as the open source release gets nearer", says Apple.
The fruit-logo company further says, "we are excited about the opportunities an open source Swift creates for our industry. Baked-in safety features combined with excellent speed mean it has the chance to dramatically improve software versus using C-based languages. Swift is packed with modern features, it's fun to write, and we believe it will get used in a lot of places. Together, we have an exciting road ahead".
Apple shares the following highlights about Swift going open source.
- Swift source code will be released under an OSI-approved permissive license.
- Contributions from the community will be accepted -- and encouraged.
- At launch we intend to contribute ports for OS X, iOS, and Linux.
- Source code will include the Swift compiler and standard library.
- We think it would be amazing for Swift to be on all your favorite platforms.
Sadly, Apple leaves out Windows when discussing ports, while also saying it wants Swift on "all your favorite platforms". Hey Apple, Windows is by far the most popular desktop operating system -- not mentioning it comes across as intentional and petty. With that said, mentioning Linux -- which Android happens to be -- is very much appreciated.
While Apple should be applauded for this move to open source, I am dubious that the company is turning over a new leaf. It has a long way to go before catching up to Microsoft's level in the open source community.
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