The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is calling on Microsoft to open source Windows 7 now that it has reached End of Life. Windows 7 reached End of Life on January 14, 2020.
“The end of Windows 7’s lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead,” the FSF wrote in a post.
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The foundation hopes that if Windows 7 is open sourced, it will give the community the opportunity to study, modify, and share it. It also stated two other demands of Microsoft: “We urge you to respect the freedom and privacy of your users – not simply strongarm them into the newest Windows version. We want more proof that you really respect users and user freedom, and aren’t just using those concepts as marketing when convenient.”
To support their goals, the FSF started a petition with a goal of 7,777 signatures. At the time of this writing, it has 9,600 signers.
If this happens, it wouldn’t be the first time Microsoft open-sourced one of its products. Last year they open sourced the Windows Calculator in an effort to foster community collaboration.
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