Microsoft reverts Store policy to allow sale of open source apps
Last month, the company announced policy that would have effectively banned the sale of open source software on Windows app store
Microsoft has once again modified the rules of its Store to permit the sale of open-source applications that are otherwise provided for free.
Giorgio Sardo, the general manager of the Microsoft Store, announced the change of plan on Twitter, saying that the policy revision had undergone a significant rewording.
"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 said.
"To clarify our intent, we removed the previous mention to open source pricing."
He added that Microsoft was committed to support developers and providing them flexibility.
"We're committed to building an open Store and enabling dev choice and flexibility. There are many great free and paid OSS apps in the Microsoft Store, and we look forward to welcoming more."
Last month, Microsoft announced a new policy that would have effectively banned the sale of open source software by developers on the Windows app store. The statement by the company left many developers confused and also sparked widespread outrage among the developer community.
Section 10.8.7 of Microsoft Store Policies document, which was due to take effect on July 16, stated that developers should not try to make money off of open-source software or other software that is generally available for free, nor should their products be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality they offer.
While it appeared that the goal of the new policy was to prevent developers from profiting from the hard work of the open source community, the wording of the policy, as it was initially written, effectively prevented even the core project maintainers and IP-owners from selling their software.
The policy change angered many members of the open source community, so Microsoft promised to review its rules to ensure "the intent is clear."
Microsoft has now removed any references to open source software from that particular section.
Additionally, a link for developers and companies to report intellectual property violations has been included to section 11.2 of the document.
Microsoft has also provided a set of guiding principles for developers, which are as follows:
- Offer unique and distinct value within the product; make a strong case for why users should download their product from the store.
- Don't deceive customers about product's capabilities, who is offering it, etc.
- Don't attempt to cheat customers, the system or the ecosystem by manipulating reviews/ratings, credit card fraud or other fraudulent activity.
Microsoft says following these guidelines should assist developers in making decisions that increase the appeal and audience of their products.