Two weeks ago, some sources reported that Microsoft would make some changes in its app store policies. The change aimed to give the company more control over the published apps. But imposing a ban on selling open source software soon became a big mess for the company. Microsoft planned on implementing the new policies on July 16. However, the Microsoft Store General Manager, Giorgio Sardo, said they’re delaying the rollout due to the developer’s objections. Microsoft is totally abandoning the plan and will impose no ban on selling open source software in its app store. Giorgio Sardo has announced the news on his Twitter and clarified that the company is officially reversing the ban. “Last month, we shared a few updates to Microsoft Store policies to help protect customers from misleading product listings. We heard your feedback, and today we made a change to policy 10.8.7 and 11.2,” Sardo noted. Microsoft’s goal in banning the sale of open-source software was to fight against scammers who repackaged open-source apps for a profit. However, this move could also hurt the legitimate developers who were working hard to develop open-source apps for users.
Microsoft keeps open source software in its app store following developers’ objection
Sardo continued, “To clarify our intent, we removed the previous mention to open source pricing. We’re committed to building an open Store and enabling dev choice and flexibility.” The Microsoft Store General Manager also asks users to report any “intellectual property concerns about an app” to the company. Reversing the ban on selling open-source software is great news for the community. However, Microsoft is also ditching the support for browser engines. As per the company’s announcement, it now only provides support for Chromium and Gecko browser engines. Other engines like Apple’s WebKit are not supported by Microsoft anymore.
