Once again, Microsoft has used the O'Reilly Open Source Convention as a venue to make a key announcement about the company's involvement with open-source initiatives.

In 2007, Microsoft announced that it had submitted a license to the OSI (Open Source Initiative) for approval. This year Microsoft is unveiling moves in three areas, including becoming a sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation.

Sam Ramji, senior director of platform strategy at Microsoft, is slated to keynote at the show July 25 and announce that Microsoft has become a Platinum sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation. Ramji also will talk about two other strategic moves for the company, which is looking to cooperate more with the open-source community.

According to the foundation Web site, there are four levels of Apache sponsorship, with Platinum being the top level. That requires a contribution of $100,000 a year. The other three levels are: Gold for $40,000, Silver for $20,000, and Bronze for $5,000. Some may wonder whether Microsoft is trying to buy its way into segments of the open-source world.

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