A leading Linux figure, Daniel Robbins, the founder of Gentoo Linux and its former chief architect, has announced that he has accepted a position at Microsoft Corp. In a brief note to the Gentoo Foundation Inc. community, Robbins said he was leaving Gentoo and that he will be "helping Microsoft to understand Open Source and community-based projects."
Microsoft confirmed that Robbins began work at Microsoft"s campus in Redmond, Wash., on May 23. Sources at Microsoft said Robbins is working with Bill Hill. Hill is a researcher with Microsoft Research and is one of the inventors of ClearType, a technology meant to improve the readability of displayed fonts. Hill and his group work on computer typography and e-books.