ASP.NET MVC 1.0 RTW Goes Open Source Under Ms-PL

ASP.NET MVC 1.0 was initially released to web at Microsoft's web-centric conference MIX09, but the Redmond company took the new Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework for the ASP.NET 3.5 runtime a step further. In a move designed to indicate increasing support for the open-source model, the software giant is not offering the ASP.NET MVC source code under MS-PL. In this regard, both the actual bits and the source code for ASP.NET MVC 1.0 are up for grabs via the Microsoft Download Center.

“Today, Microsoft released ASP.NET MVC Version 1.0 under the Microsoft Public License. This release is another step forward in Microsoft’s efforts to provide greater choice for Web developers and cooperation with the Open Source community,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Softpedia. “ASP.NET MVC Version 1.0 was released to the Web last month at MIX ’09. ASP.NET MVC helps Web developers build Web applications that are easy to maintain, offer complete control over page markup as well as greater testability.”

Scott Guthrie, the corporate vice president of Microsoft's .NET Developer Platform, explained that the Redmond company was imposing absolutely no limitations or platform restrictions. As such, developers are free not only to take advantage of ASP.NET MVC 1.0, but also to tweak the source code, and even redistribute it. Microsoft has packaged ASP.NET MVC 1.0 as both an integrated MSI setup, and a .zip file that offers the ASP.NET MVC source code.

“Two weeks ago at MIX we released ASP.NET MVC 1.0. ASP.NET MVC is a free, fully supported, Microsoft product that enables developers to easily build web applications using a model-view-controller pattern. ASP.NET MVC provides a “closer to the metal” web programming option for ASP.NET. It enables full control over HTML markup and URL structure, and facilitates unit testing and a test driven development workflow,” Guthrie explained.

ASP.NET 1.0 MVC RTW is available for download here.