t seems we’ve arrived upon Microsoft open source. In the last couple of years, whenever there was discussion of Microsoft’s open source projects and efforts such as CodePlex or Port25, there was typically the standard open source response: it’s not OSI-approved; it’s not real open source.

With a bid underway to obtain the blessing of the Open Source Initiative for two of its software licenses, Microsoft is working to burnish its open source credentials.

Microsoft appears to be serious about making Outlook more accessible to open source developers. On May 24, the Redmond, Wash software giant announced two new open source projects designed to complement its recently released technical documentation for Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders (.pst).

Microsoft’s proposed $45 billion buy of Yahoo would give the Redmond, Wash company control over a top open source e-mail company, open source projects and an open source infrastructure. On September 17 of 2007, Yahoo bought Zimbra for $350 million. Yahoo’s infrastructure is built on BSD. Yahoo has released a myriad of software to the open source community and even sponsors some open source projects. So this deal would put Microsoft directly into the open source software business.

Novell is working with Microsoft to help Microsoft cooperate and contribute to open source projects under open source licenses, and sticking with the existing standards to do so. Keen observers of the tech industry might note that this is a bit of a rarity, but it’s something that I hope we’ll see more of from Microsoft.

We recently looked at the commenting practice of active working open source projects. It is quite impressive: The average comment density of open source is around 19%.

Microsoft’s own SourceForge-like repository of open source projects, CodePlex, celebrated its third anniversary recently. According to Sara Ford, CodePlex program manager, the site is accepted and welcomed among the fans of open source and Linux software.

Microsoft must really love open source and want to see it succeed. Recently, Microsoft's open-source team lead, Sam Ramji, urged open-source vendors not to compete with Microsoft on price, but instead focus on "value."

Microsoft recently tapped the Philippines for its open source initiative citing mobility applications and e-commerce as some of the potential open source areas, according to Bill Hiff, general manager for platform strategy of Microsoft Corporation. His visit in the country also marks the launch of Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative and Customer Platform Value Campaigns.