Interoperability Through Community - Zend/Microsoft Tech Collab

UPDATED 11/1 with links at bottom:

Bill Hilf and his team have done another tech collab deal that makes a huge amount of sense to me. Zend and Microsoft announced yesterday that the two companies are going to work together to make the PHP scripting experience compelling for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server “Longhorn.” From the press release the collaboration will include:

· Technical improvements for PHP deploying on the Windows Server platform will be submitted under the PHP license to the PHP community for feedback and contribution.

· Microsoft plans to develop and release an Internet Information Server (IIS) add-on component, FastCGI, that will serve as the interface between PHP and the IIS Web Server. Microsoft that this FastCGI component will be made freely available on https://www.iis.net for users of Microsot Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server “Longhorn.”

· Zend will establish a Windows testing lab and conduct regular tests and performance improvements to maintain high performance of PHP on the Windows Server platform as PHP evolves.

· Microsoft and Zend will work to help ensure a production-quality PHP runtime environment for IIS 5.1 (Windows XP), IIS 6.0 (Windows Server 2003) and IIS 7.0 (Windows Vista and Windows Server “Longhorn”).

· Zend and Microsoft will actively participate in the PHP community, ensuring open discussion to help developers planning to deploy PHP applications on the Windows Server platform.

The Zend tech collab is another in an increasingly long line of these types of deals. JBOSS was first, then came SugarCRM, next was XenSource, and now Zend. I would say we are officially moving out of the novelty phase and into a pattern of behavior. For years I have been going to OSS events and expressing that MS is not religious about development or business models. We are likely to remain committed to our business model but that does not mean there is no room in the ecosystem for different approaches.

I look back to our inviting Jim Hugunin to come on board to help our Common Language Runtime team to more deeply understand how to work with dynamic languages (and the subsequent commitment to the IronPython project) as a precursor to this deal with Zend.

I’ll also point out that the lead point made by Bill in the release (and when he talks about this) is about interoperability. That, of course, is music to my ears. I’ll flog this horse a hundred times – interoperability not just about standards. Community is a critical path element if you are going to build out a sophisticated view of interoperability and Bill’s team is driving some of our more interesting efforts in this space.

Internetnews.com: Microsoft Opens PHP Door

vnunet.com: Microsoft teams up with Zend for PHP support

New York Times: Zend Web tools adapted for Windows (CNet re-post)

Reuters India: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend

Bytepress.com: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend (Reuters re-post)

CRN: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend(Reuters re-post)

FoxNews.com: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend(Reuters re-post)

InformationWeek: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend (Reuters re-post)

DNA India: Microsoft forges ties with open source maker Zend (Reuters re-post)

InformationWeek: Microsoft Wants Speed Advantage With Open Source PHP

Dr. Dobb’s: Microsoft Wants Speed Advantage With Open Source PHP (InfoWeek re-post)

eWEEK: Zend Moves to Boost PHP Usage

Stuff.co.nz: Microsoft strikes deal with Zend

iDM: Microsoft And Zend Work Together For Better PHP Interoperability

Playfuls.com: Microsoft and Zend Technologies Announce Technical Collaboration

Blog and Community Mentions:

Andi Gutmans’ Weblog: Making PHP on Windows work!

Slashdot: Microsoft Partners With Zend

SiliconValleyWatcher: Microsoft meets PHP

TechWhack / Software Journal (India): Microsoft collaborates with open source software developer Zend

LiveJournal Blog: ZendCon Session Report - Panel - How do the Stacks Stack Up?

Bink.nu: Companies seek to improve performance, reliability and stability of PHP

Zend Developer Zone: Big News From ZendCon: Zend and Microsoft Announce Their Partnership

PHPDeveloper.org: ZendCon 2006 Accouncements - Collaborations with Microsoft, IBM, and the new ZendBox

Matt Assay: Microsoft + Zend = Faster PHP?