&gt; they open source to get PR, build a community; I hope that helps and it&#x27;s not their last resort<p>It&#x27;s not that: Microsoft acquired Xamarin earlier this year [1].<p>Xamarin is also holding a conference [2] right now, so I suspect this announcement is part of that.<p>Edit: Yes, it was. [3]<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=11169215" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=11169215</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;evolve.xamarin.com&#x2F;live" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;evolve.xamarin.com&#x2F;live</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;adtmag.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2016&#x2F;04&#x2F;27&#x2F;xamarin-evolve-16.aspx" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;adtmag.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2016&#x2F;04&#x2F;27&#x2F;xamarin-evolve-16.asp...</a>