Leadership of IronRuby and IronPython

21 Oct 2010

Now that I’ve moved from Seattle to New York, started my new career at Lab49, got married, and just got back from the honeymoon, my public techie life can resume. And I’m happy to resume it on a positive note.

Today signifies a big step in Microsoft’s commitment to open-source: Jason Zander announced new leadership for IronRuby and IronPython, namely Miguel de Icaza, Michael Foord, Jeff Hardy, and myself. Since Microsoft has officially put the project in our hands, both languages will be open to contributions from the community, not just the core team members. Also, any previously unreleased work as been released, include the IronRuby tools for Visual Studio and groundwork towards IronPython 2.7 and 1.9. You can find the appropriate releases on both IronRuby and IronPython’s CodePlex sites.

Though Microsoft is no longer directly resourcing these projects, there are definitely companies providing support. Lab49 has been tremendously supportive of my participation in the project, and is interested in supporting the project in substantial ways going forward. Those details will become clearer in the future, but it’s great to see my company taking a proactive role in the projects I’m part of. Also, Miguel is a big-shot at Novell, but I’ll let him comment on how his company is supporting the projects. =)

The reality of open-source software is that corporate sponsorship and funding comes and goes. I'm grateful to Microsoft for starting IronPython and IronRuby, funding it up until this point, and passing the torch to individuals who will continue to progress the languages forward. I’d specifically like to thank Bill Chiles, Dino Viehland, and Tomáš Matoušek, who did the hard work to make this transition happen.

If you’re interested in the future of these projects, please subscribe to their mailing lists (IronRuby, IronPython) and help us to continue making a great dynamic language experience on .NET.

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