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For the first time ever, Microsoft will distribute its own version of Linux
Business Insider ^
| Apr 16, 2018
| Matt Weinberger
Posted on 04/16/2018 4:34:58 PM PDT by dayglored
- Microsoft on Monday announced Azure Sphere, a new technology to protect the processors that power smart appliances, connected toys, and other gadgets.
- Azure Sphere is powered in large part by Linux, a free operating system that Microsoft once viewed as a major threat.
- It's the first time ever that Microsoft has made Linux part of a product offering.
Microsoft announced on Monday a new technology called Azure Sphere, a new system for securing the tiny processors that power smart appliances, connected toys, and other gadgets. We'll get to the specifics in a moment, but here's the really notable part: To power Azure Sphere, Microsoft has developed its own, custom version of Linux the free, open source operating system that Microsoft once considered the single biggest threat to the supremacy of its Windows software.
"After 43 years, this is the first day that we are announcing, and will be distributing, a custom Linux kernel," Microsoft President Brad Smith said on stage at an event in San Francisco.
Smith said that by Microsoft's reckoning, the fact that most new gadgetry comes with a processor is cause for concern: In 2016, unsecured cameras and other appliances were harnessed by bad guys to mount a massive cyberattack that took down major websites for hours. Years later, people are still buying smart gadgets, but security hasn't always improved.
[More at the link...]
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: azure; linux; microsoft; windowspinglist
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Hell has truly got frostbite -- Microsoft has released a Linux distribution...
...Azure Sphere takes a combined approach, using hardware, software, and the cloud to hopefully solve this problem.
First, Microsoft has come up with a design for a new, more powerful kind of microprocessor, which it will make available to actual chip manufacturers for free.
Second, Microsoft has developed Azure Stack OS, the Linux-based operating system that will run on those chips Smith says that while Microsoft is a "Windows company," a full-fledged version of its flagship operating system was too big and too unwieldy for what it had in mind.
Third, the chip/OS combo will be integrated with an Azure Sphere cloud security service, which will keep the devices up to date with security patches for 10 years or longer.
Smith says that the first Azure Sphere-powered hardware will hit the market later in 2018, with details forthcoming.
1
posted on
04/16/2018 4:34:58 PM PDT
by
dayglored
To: Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; amigatec; AppyPappy; arnoldc1; ATOMIC_PUNK; ...
2
posted on
04/16/2018 4:35:47 PM PDT
by
dayglored
("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
To: dayglored
Hell has truly got frostbite -- Microsoft has released a Linux distribution...Is it just technological progress, or was Ballmer holding the Big Softie back?
He seemed to hate Linux with a passion... protecting the franchise, I suppose.
To: dayglored
Does this version come with a BLUE screen?
4
posted on
04/16/2018 4:38:26 PM PDT
by
ptsal
( Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - M. Twain)
To: dayglored
Not so sure I would trust this version?????
5
posted on
04/16/2018 4:39:04 PM PDT
by
hsmomx3
To: dayglored
I'm running a Linux clone. I don't understand this move. a full-fledged version of its flagship operating system was too big and too unwieldy for what it had in mind.
I gave up on Win 10. Navigation. Quirky freezes. I always suspected viruses. I'm really suspicious of this and see no reason to try their product at this time.
6
posted on
04/16/2018 4:44:14 PM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities.)
To: dayglored
Microsoft usually buys out something that has proven it's worth.
have they changed their policy? Mint (ubuntu) and Manjaro (arch Linux) are by far the two largest number of users. Why don't they take over one of them?
7
posted on
04/16/2018 4:48:00 PM PDT
by
Steve Van Doorn
(*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
To: Pearls Before Swine
Remember what happened to CPM??
To: dayglored
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
9
posted on
04/16/2018 5:06:48 PM PDT
by
Governor Dinwiddie
(MAGA in the mornin', MAGA in the evenin', MAGA at suppertime . . .)
To: dayglored
...Microsoft has released a Linux distribution...
So will you be bashing that now?
10
posted on
04/16/2018 5:07:37 PM PDT
by
McGruff
(You are entitled to your own opinion just not your own facts.)
To: dayglored
The first linux version to have a blue screen of death.
11
posted on
04/16/2018 5:07:44 PM PDT
by
Secret Agent Man
( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
To: Secret Agent Man
Probably the first goal of the project.
12
posted on
04/16/2018 5:09:07 PM PDT
by
wally_bert
(I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
To: dayglored
“will make available to actual chip manufacturers for free”
More “free” stuff from Microsoft?
The first big free item was an OS that included the ability to spy on every facet of your computer use and sell it under the premise of improving “customer experience”.
I guess Microsoft figure appliance hackers and spies have a good thing going and Microsoft can exploit it better.
13
posted on
04/16/2018 5:09:49 PM PDT
by
fruser1
To: dayglored
This is it: world domination! I remember when Novell entered the market with SCO Unix. It made them the superpower in the industry they are today.
(Geek joke, sorry).
To: Billthedrill
remember when Novell entered the market with SCO Unix. Me too. I would've rather french-kissed a rattle snake than had to deal with it. Painful.
15
posted on
04/16/2018 5:16:22 PM PDT
by
TomServo
To: dayglored
So I guess MS figures there will be money in providing the cloud services that these embedded Linux devices will interface with. Their track record hasn’t been very good in similar markets but time will tell.
16
posted on
04/16/2018 5:18:37 PM PDT
by
bigbob
To: Pearls Before Swine
>
Is it just technological progress, or was Ballmer holding the Big Softie back? He seemed to hate Linux with a passion... protecting the franchise, I suppose. Both. It -is- real technological progress, and Ballmer was a damned obsessive idiot. He was completely, utterly, unable to fathom anything other than "Windows Uber Alles". He made a lot of terrible business decisions in the early 2000's that almost killed Microsoft's ability to move forward, and it took pushing him out to get the company moving back to a point where they could make progress again.
17
posted on
04/16/2018 5:30:21 PM PDT
by
dayglored
("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
To: Steve Van Doorn
>
Microsoft usually buys out something that has proven it's worth. have they changed their policy? Mint (ubuntu) and Manjaro (arch Linux) are by far the two largest number of users. Why don't they take over one of them? Look up the GPL (Gnu Public License). Microsoft -can't- just "buy" a Linux distribution. They -can- take part in the Linux community.
18
posted on
04/16/2018 5:32:41 PM PDT
by
dayglored
("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
To: dayglored
"...its flagship operating system was too big and too unwieldy..."
Since the first Easter Egg...
19
posted on
04/16/2018 5:33:18 PM PDT
by
Paladin2
To: Governor Dinwiddie
>
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Precisely.
20
posted on
04/16/2018 5:33:50 PM PDT
by
dayglored
("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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