Microsoft not to ban commercial open source apps on Windows Store

Microsoft on Tuesday decided not to implement a policy to ban developers from selling open source software on Windows Store.

The policy to ban commercial open source apps was set to go into effect from July 16.

Microsoft has now removed the mention of open source software from its Store Policies document.

"On June 16, we shared changes to updates made to several policies aimed at protecting customers from misleading listing. In listening to the developer community, we have determined one of those updates could be perceived differently than intended," a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Microsoft Store has now published an update to the policy "in order to clarify the language to better reflect our intention. The policy will now go into effect starting today", the spokesperson added.

Earlier Microsoft Store policy said that developers must not attempt to profit from open-source or other software that is otherwise generally available for free, nor be priced irrationally high relative to the features and functionality provided by your product.

The announcement irked the developer community as it would hamper their efforts to monetise open source software.

The policy change was first announced on June 16.

There are several examples of open source software sold in Microsoft's app store such as video editing software Shotcut and FTP clients such as WinSCP.

--IANS

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