Microsoft announced today at PDC09 here in Los Angeles that they will be opening the .NET Micro Framework source code and also release the next version, 4.0. The release will be available under the Apache 2.0 license, something that is already being used inside the community.
Developers will be able to gain access to the Base Class Libraries that were implemented into the .NET Micro Framework and CLR code.
Both the TCP/IP and Cryptography libraries are not included in the source. Colin Miller told the developers that the reason behind Microsoft not releasing the available source code was because they use a third-party from EBSNet and do not have distribution rights.
Microsoft is opening discussion of how to improve their .NET Micro Framework for developers through their community, including Microsoft developers and external partners to make improvements on their open source development.