---
title: "Cloud Standards Breakthrough: New Cloud Source License"
date: 2009-04-01T10:07:47Z
modified: 2009-04-01T10:07:47Z
permalink: "https://redmonk.com/jgovernor/cloud-standards-breakthrough-with-new-cloud-source-license/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 1920
categories:
  - cloud
timestamp: 2009-04-01T10:07:47Z
tags:
  - cloud
---

![http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oscon2002/jc_photos4.html](http://www.oreillynet.com/oscon2002/graphics/jc4_01.jpg)

RedMonk has always positioned itself on the side of openness and positive community interaction, which is why after the recent muck slinging and general unpleasantness in the Cloud standards space we’re pleased to see some sanity returning with a new initiative from the Free Software Foundation – the Free™ and Open™ Cloud Alliance™ (FOCA), an industry-wide trade marketing association supporting Free™ and Open™ Cloud Computing™ (FOCC). Perhaps most importantly, unlike the Open Cloud Manifesto announced yesterday, FOCC actually has an artefact on the table that we can all work with – namely the CloudLeft Public License (CPL); this won’t just be another talking shop.

Any initiative kicked off by Larry Ellison and Richard Stallman has to stand a good chance of success, which is why RedMonk is very proud to announce we’re founding members of of FOCA. We have been lobbying behind the scenes at Microsoft on behalf of the FSF with some success, and hope to see an announcement about Azure and the CPL in the very near future. It’s great to see Microsoft doing the right thing, especially so early in its product plans.

All in all I think we now have a basis to proceed with interoperable clouds.

Link to the press release [here.](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dxr5cbn_03ghsr8ft)

disclosure: Microsoft is a client.