At its 2016 Connect developer event in New York today, Microsoft announced that the company is joining the Linux Foundation as a Platinum member – the highest level of membership, which costs $500,000 annually.Besides this, Microsoft also announced that tech giant Google has also joined on with the independent .NET Foundation.
The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit organization that oversees the development of the very popular free operating system Linux, alongside advances open technology development as well as commercial adoption.
Microsoft has already contributed to a number of its open source projects, including Node.js Foundation, Open Container Initiative, OpenDaylight, R Consortium, and Open API Initiative.
However, today’s announcement from Microsoft still comes as a surprise to many, as Former Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer once said, “Linux is a cancer,” in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
Source: Microsoft Joins The Linux Foundation — Turns Love Affair Into a Relationship
