With .NET, Microsoft reaches out to Malaysian open source community

• Microsoft ‘open sourcing’ server-side of .NET stack, expanding it to Linux and Mac OS
• Developers can build and manage applications across multiple devices and platforms

THE Malaysian developer community lauded Microsoft Corp’s announcement that it was ‘open sourcing’ the full server-side of its .NET stack and expanding it to run on the Linux and Mac OS platforms, even as the US giant’s local subsidiary kicked off efforts to further engage the community.
 
In September, Microsoft Malaysia partnered the open source community in the country by sponsoring MOSCMY 2014 (Malaysia Open Source Conference), which saw more than 300 participants taking part in various workshops, discussions and keynotes discussing current and future trends of Open Source Software (OSS) and hardware.
 
“We have to meet the developers of today where they are, as opposed to asking them to come to where we are,” said Dinesh Nair (pic), director of Developer Experience & Evangelism at Microsoft Malaysia.
 
“Through these latest announcements on Visual Studio and .NET, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to delivering a comprehensive end-to-end solution for developers to build and manage applications across multiple devices and platforms,” he added.

Held annually, MOSCMY is also a platform for businesses to leverage the latest open source innovations, best practices and success stories, Microsoft Malaysia said in a statement.
 
Meanwhile, at its Connect (); event earlier this month in the United States, Microsoft unveiled Visual Studio 2015 Preview and .NET 2015 Preview, and also released Visual Studio Community 2013, a new free edition of Visual Studio that it said provides developers easy access to the Visual Studio core toolset.
 
Microsoft said it is providing the full .NET server stack in open source, including ASP.NET, the .NET compiler, the .NET Core Runtime, Framework and Libraries, enabling developers to build with .NET across Windows, Mac or Linux.
 
It said it will work closely with the open source community, taking contributions for future improvements to .NET and will work through the .NET Foundation.
 
“A strong, open source, cross-platform Common Language Runtime (CLR) opens significant new options for building the systems we need,” said Harisfazillah Jamel (pic), cofounder of the Open Source Developer Community and MOSCMY chairman.
 
“This significantly expands the choices we have in terms of finding the right tools to solve the problems we encounter,” he added.
 
Meanwhile, Visual Studio Community 2013 is a free, fully featured edition of Visual Studio including full extensibility, and is available now.
 
Targeting any platform, from devices and desktop, to Web and cloud services, the community edition provides developers with easy access to Microsoft’s Visual Studio toolset for all non-enterprise application development. Developers can get started with Visual Studio Community 2013 here.
 
“There is a huge change for developers that has been slowly and steadily building up for the last couple of years,” said Tham Chin Seng (pic), research and development manager at Agmo Studio, a Malaysian software development firm that offers mobile and web solutions to businesses and consumers.
 
“We are now moving to a world where developers have to constantly think about building for the mobile and cloud platforms. Application development is getting more complex, and what developers like ourselves need is support and resources to do that in the most efficient and convenient way,” he added.
 
Built from the ground up with support for iOS, Android and Windows, Visual Studio 2015 Preview makes it easier for developers to build applications and services for any device, on any platform, Microsoft claimed.

Microsoft also announced the preview of ASP.NET 5.0, a streamlined framework and runtime optimised for cloud and server workloads.
 
In addition, the new Connected Services Manager in Visual Studio 2015 makes it easier to connect applications to line-of-business API (applications programming interface) services such as the Office 365 API and SalesForce, among others.
 
Success stories
 
Companies in Malaysia are also increasingly turning to technology as an integral component in helping prepare the business for the 21st century, Microsoft Malaysia said in its statement.
 
For example, Ikhasas Sdn Bhd, a company specialising in property development, construction, engineering, infrastructural works and turnkey designs, needed scalability and uninterrupted operation to cope with its demands and expansion.
 
With rising IT infrastructure and maintenance costs, Ikhasas turned to open source for a viable yet affordable solution to enhance its operational efficiencies.
 
“With our rapid expansion, we needed a cost-effective solution for efficient and reliable communication between our offices,” said Ikhasas MIS (management information systems) manager Ken Tee (pic).
 
“With an open source Voice-as-a-Service (VaaS) solution built on top of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we got the best of both worlds – a reliable service at an affordable price,” he added.
 
Dinesh said, “Over the years, we have seen growing interest from Malaysian businesses in OSS implementation, resulting in great success stories such as Ikhasas.
 
“We will continue to engage with open source and standards communities in a variety of ways to promote interoperability, which makes it easier and less costly for local customers like Ikhasas to develop and manage mixed IT environments,” he added.
 
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