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Windows Store guidelines currently allow for open source apps

Windows Store guidelines currently allow for open source apps

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It looks like Microsoft will allow developers to submit open source applications to the forthcoming Windows Store for Windows 8. Microsoft's Standard Application License Terms prohibit the sharing of apps, but the company wrote in a clause noting that any free or open source software is excluded from this requirement.

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Windows Store for Windows 8
Windows Store for Windows 8

It looks like Microsoft will allow developers to submit open source applications to the forthcoming Windows Store for Windows 8, unlike the Windows Phone Marketplace. While Microsoft's Standard Application License Terms prohibit the sharing of apps (something that contradicts the nature of open source apps), Microsoft also wrote in a clause noting that any free or open source software is excluded from this requirement, as long as it meets a number of other provisions; specifically, Microsoft is concerned with copyright infringement and developers keeping up with any licenses necessary to run their software. Interestingly, Microsoft doesn't make such an exception for Windows Phone, preferring the completely closed model that Apple uses in both the iOS and Mac app stores. We're still a ways off from the launch of the Windows Store — we'll see if this open source exception lasts when the store is launched.