Microsoft Lands On Top 20 Linux Kernel Contributor List

We all know that when the bread-and-butter software offerings at Microsoft is its Windows operating system. The company goes out of its way to protect the software and its dominating market position. With that in mind, it will come as a big surprise to many people that Microsoft has made the list of the top 20 Linux kernel contributors for the first time ever.

This marks the first time that Microsoft has appeared on this list grabbing the 17th spot on the list. The significant contributions made by Microsoft to Linux hint that Microsoft may have finally accepted that corporate customers will use open-source operating systems alongside Windows, whether or not Microsoft likes it. The Linux Foundation reported along with the list of top contributors, that developers who are paid perform over 75% of the kernel development done for the operating system.

The first contribution Microsoft made to the Linux kernel was back in 2009 when it released a driver that helped Linux run on Windows server virtualization technologies. Landing on the top contributors list for the open-source operating system certainly doesn't mean Microsoft is embracing open source with open arms. It still uses patents it holds against open-source operating systems such as Android. Along with the top contributors report, the Linux Foundation also offered up a video talking about how Linux is built that you can view below.

[via GeekWire]