/_posts/archived/2009-04-01-aspnetmvc-open-source.aspx.markdown

---
layout: post
title: "Open Source License For System.Web.Mvc"
date: 2009-04-01 -0800
comments: true
disqus_identifier: 18604
categories: [asp.net mvc,asp.net]
---
First let me begin by assuring you, **this is not an April Fool’s
joke**.

![2871423645\_2f690a0c61](http://haacked.com/images/haacked_com/WindowsLiveWriter/OpenSourceLicenseForASP.NETMVC_AE1E/2871423645_2f690a0c61_3.jpg "2871423645_2f690a0c61")Exciting
news! [Scott Guthrie announced
today](http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/04/01/asp-net-mvc-1-0.aspx "ASP.NET MVC 1.0")
that we have released the source code for [ASP.NET
MVC](http://asp.net/mvc "ASP.NET Website") 1.0 under the [Ms-PL
license](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/ms-pl.html "Ms-PL at OSI"),
an OSI approved Open Source license with all the rights that license
entails.

You can download the Ms-PL licensed source package from the [**download
details page
here**](http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144444 "ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Download Page").
Just scroll down and look for the file named
*AspNetMvc1.Ms-PL.source.zip*. My baby is growing up!

A big thanks must go out to everyone involved in making this happen and
to those who approved it. It’s truly a team effort. When I joined
Microsoft, I remember walking into ScottGu’s office to try and plant the
seed for releasing ASP.NET MVC under the Ms-PL license. I came in armed
with reasons why we should, but found him to be immediately receptive,
if not already thinking along those lines. In fact, a lot of people such
as [Brian Goldfarb](http://blogs.msdn.com/bgold/ "Brian Goldfarb"), my
management chain, our LCA contact, etc… were completely on board, which
was unexpected (though maybe it should not have been) and encouraging to
me.

However, there’s agreement to do something and the actual doing. It
still a lot of people to do the leg-work to make it happen. I personally
was kept me *very busy* in the days leading up to the official RTM
release. Let’s just say I feel like I’m one course away from getting a
law degree.

I know one of the first questions some of you will ask is will we accept
source code contributions (I’ve already seen the question on Twitter :).
Unfortunately, at this time the answer is no, we do not accept patches.
Please don’t let that stop you from [contributing in other
ways](http://forums.asp.net/1146.aspx "ASP.NET MVC Forums"). The terms
of the license do mean we need to stay on our toes to keep putting out
compelling releases and we will work hard not to disappoint.

Personally (and this is totally my own opinion), I’d like to reach the
point where we could accept patches. There are many hurdles in the way,
but if you went back in time several years and told people that
Microsoft would release several open source projects ([Ajax Control
Toolkit](http://www.codeplex.com/AjaxControlToolkit "Ajax Control Toolkit"),
MEF, DLR,
[IronPython](http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=IronPython "IronPython")
and [IronRuby](http://www.ironruby.net/ "IronRuby"), etc….) you’d have
been laughed back to the present. Perhaps if we could travel to the
future a few years, we’ll see a completely different landscape from
today.

However, it is a complex issue and I don’t want to downplay that, but
there are many of us who are looking for novel solutions and trying to
push things forward. I really think in the long run, it is good for us
and four our customers, otherwise we wouldn’t care.

But coming back to the present, I’m extremely pleased with where we are
now and look forward to what will happen in the future. Someone once
expressed disappointment that my involvement in open source projects
seriously declined after joining Microsoft. It was my hope at the time
that by the time it released, it would be clear that technically, I had
been working on OSS. :)