Ajax Experience 2008, Day 1, Microsoft to ship jQuery with Visual Studio

I’m attending the Ajax Experience in Boston this week. The big news here is that Microsoft will be shipping jQuery with Visual Studio, promising that it will be a stock version, and not yet-another fork of infamy. At AE 2008, John Resig, jQuery creator (and RIT alumnus), mentioned that Microsoft “would not be getting a free pass”. Any patches submitted by a Microsoft engineer will receive the same scrutiny as any other. (Historical footnote: back in the day, when IBM first started to use the Apache HTTP server, the very first patch submitted by an IBM engineer was in fact rejected. OSS developers are a tough bunch!)

Elsewhere, people are hailing the m$(jQuery) announcement as a sign that “The war between business models is over. Open source has won.“ Microsoft has been warming up to open source for some time now. The Ajax libraries in ASP.NET are already open source, Microsoft is now aplatinum sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation, and here at the Ajax Experience, where open source rules, Microsoft is spreading the love by hosting a cocktail party for 300 hardcore JavaScript enthusiasts.

Techno-politics aside, the jQuery news bodes well for Ektron and VanDamme Associates. Ektron already bundles a customized version of jQuery, and we are coming to rely on jQuery for added value features, like streaming media. Of course, there are “interesting times” ahead, as we all try to stay on the same jQuery page.

Meanwhile, Day One at the conference has been a series of lively tutorials and scintillating keynotes. (Seriously, Ajax folks are a fun crowd!) The smorgasbord of presentations starts tomorrow, with one of mine launching at the crack of 9am. (Meaning: I have to keep a clear head despite the Microsoft party tonight!)