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Microsoft Open Sources Edge JavaScript Code, Plans Linux Port (windows.com)
colinneagle writes: One month after promising to release the JavaScript engine of its Edge browser, Microsoft has proven good for its word and then some. Not only is it releasing the code, it's planning a Linux port. The company uploaded the code to GitHub and announced its plans via a blog post by Gaurav Seth, principal PM manager for Chakra, which is what they're calling the JavaScript engine. "Today, we are excited to share with you that we've just made the sources for ChakraCore available under the MIT License at the ChakraCore GitHub repository," he wrote. "Going forward, we'll be developing the key components of Chakra in the open." With the release, you can build ChakraCore on Windows 7 SP1 or above with Visual Studio 2013 or 2015 with C++ support installed, Seth said. Of course, Edge is more than just the Chakra engine, but this could result in a back port to Windows 7. He also said Microsoft is committed to bringing it to other platforms, starting with Linux, and invited developers to "help us in the pursuit either by letting us know which other platforms they'd like to see ChakraCore supported on, or even by helping port it to the platform of their choice."
It's like the Slashdot of old, circa 2000 or so.
This story was just posted 6 hours ago, timmay. Bang up job as always!
Smart, though definitely a market-following move. This leads to a microsoft-built open-source equivalent to node, which will make people who are used to the microsoft ecosystem or who want microsoft support to keep their clients happy seriously consider them for a whole host of project types.
The competition also means we can have some benchmarking competitions between the two javascript engines, which will inspire both to get a little better.
Especially since the proper spelling on Slashdot is Micro$oft.
I can't wait to not use Edge on another operating system!