Daniel Robbins, the founder of Gentoo Linux and its former chief architect, has announced on Tuesday, June 14, 2005, that he has accepted a position at Microsoft Corp.

Robbins said in the Gentoo Foundation Inc. community he was leaving Gentoo and that he will be helping Microsoft to understand Open Source and community-based projects. Besides, Microsoft also confirmed that Robbins began work at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Wash., on May 23.

Robbins had been moving away from his distribution for some time. In April 2004, he surprised the Gentoo community by resigning from development responsibilities and his role as chief architect for Gentoo. At that time, he also began setting up the non-profit Gentoo Foundation, which now runs Gentoo development.

Before joining Microsoft, Robbins finalized the transfer of Gentoo’s intellectual property, including some coyrights and soon-to-be trademarked Gentoo logos to the Foundation.