Microsoft Frees WiX
Late February, when Windows source code leaked to the Web even the most level-headed pundits could not foresee Microsoft's bits making their way to the Web in any other fashion. While some critics regard Microsoft as being notoriously proprietary and dead set against the open source movement, the folks at Redmond have once again stunned the computing world and may have proven those critics wrong.
The latest contributor to SourceForge.net -- the largest open source developer network -- is none other than Microsoft itself. Microsoft's Windows Installer XML (WiX) has effectively been donated to the waiting hands of the open source community. As described by Microsoft, WiX is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML code. The toolset is comprised of a compiler, a 'lib' tool, a 'linker' and a decompiler.
According to the web blog of Rob Mensching, a Microsoft employee who has worked part time over a span of four and a half years developing WiX, the software has achieved a level of stability that can be quantified as beta two. By providing source code access via SourceForge, Mensching feels that the depth added to the pool of WiX developers will kick start development in what is already a very developer oriented project.
WiX is a popular tool inside Microsoft and is used in builds of products such as SQL and BizTalk Server, Exchange, Office, Virtual Server and various MSN properties. A group of Microsoft programmers is actively engaged in improving the code which is licensed under the IBM Common Public License (CPL); not the General Public License (GPL) like many other open source applications. WiX's release to the community was delayed by the need for a 'suitable' license.
The release of WiX to SourceForge.net falls under the umbrella of the broader shared source program. Rather than take Thor's Hammer to the forge and combat the perceived open source 'threat', Microsoft has shifted its stance and intends to apply the lessons learned from the open source community's development models.
The software giant claims to be eager to work closely with the community despite railing against it repeatedly as it grew in stride and gained industry recognition.
According to statements made by Stephen Walli, Microsoft's platforms business development manager, future Microsoft contributions to the open source community are expected to be "non core" code – meaning non-operating system. Given Microsoft's sea change, it could be said that anything is possible.