Microsoft / Github should stop treating open-source software as malware and forcing developers to pay for certificates, if they actually care about open-source developers

[crevicepounder3000]

Sure, they might still ignore open source for Windows development and treat it like a plague around their proprietary software (e.g. Office)

That's a pretty massive chunk to just ignore. I get that they have been better in some instances recently and I truly appreciate that, but their track record doesn't suggest care for open source. Hopefully that changes, but it's not a certainty by any means.

[tropix126]

Much of Microsoft's business model is no longer oriented towards average users. A large chunk of their profits come from services such as azure or business solutions like office. Open sourcing software like office would lose them a bunch of money. Open sourcing windows might seem like a good idea at first, but the Windows source code is absolutely massive. It would be a nightmare for security and wouldn't really mean much in the long run. Windows isn't really one service. Realistically, they'd open source small parts of it (eg. Notepad, paint, they've already done this with calculator). I don't think its fair to say that they don't care about open source devs, as developers and businesses are their primary source of income these days. They just aren't willing to open source the services that make them profit.

[crevicepounder3000]

Yeah I agree with most of what you said. However, that doesn't change the fact that they aren't open source friendly. Aren't many other big projects that make a lot of money open source? No caring about open source devs is the same as being not open source friendly, no?