Microsoft has again released code under GPLv2, this time the Live Services plugin Moodle. Microsoft's contribution follows close on the heels of the release of its Hyper-V driver to the Linux kernel under GPLv2. The free Live Services Moodle educational website builder for teachers and students can now be tied in with the Live@edu service for email, calendars and IM.

Microsoft has introduced together with Windows 2008 a new Hypervisor called Hyper-V. Initially Microsoft only supported Microsoft products and Novell Suse, but recently they added support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. With this support it is also possible to install the components on CentOS.

A software company based in Redmond, Wash. has released 20,000 lines of code under GPLv2 for three Linux device drivers. Microsoft says its first open source Linux code contribution is designed to speed the performance of the operating system when it's run in a Hyper-V virtual machine.

Old dogs may struggle with new tricks, but they seem to be able to figure out new licenses. In a shocking move, Microsoft announced Monday the release of Hyper-V Linux Integration Components (LinuxIC).

Microsoft has denied that it has stopped work on the Hyper-V drivers for Linux that it released in July. Greg Kroah-Hartman had noted in a recent status report on the state of Linux drivers that Microsoft had not responded to the over 200 patches that had been created to clean up Microsoft's code.

Microsoft violated the General Public License v2 (GPLv2) when it distributed its Hyper-V Linux Integration Components (LinuxIC) without providing source code, says the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC).

Microsoft was in violation of the GPL (General Public License) on the Hyper-V code it released to open source this week. After Redmond covered itself in glory by opening up the code, it now looks like it may have acted simply to head off any potentially embarrassing legal dispute over violation of the GPL. The rest was theater.

My good friend and partner in crime, Jason Perlow is working on (as I'm writing this) a new Linux distribution that is Hyper-V ready. It is a modified OpenSUSE 11.1 that includes the Linux Integration Components (ICs) from Microsoft.

Reports that Microsoft had to release the Hyper-V Linux Integration Components (LinuxIC) under the GPLv2 because they had violated the GPL have been rebutted by Microsoft and Vyatta.