Linux Foundation’s Deal With the Devil

FOSS Force ^ | 14 December 2015 | Christine Hall

[dayglored]

> This shouldn't be religion. Ballmer is gone. Microsoft is doing a decent job getting reconciled to the new environment, and the company CERTAINLY is not treading water.

I agree... my only concern in this thread's context is that Ballmer's attitude still exists at Microsoft in places in the executive levels, and when someday the currently beloved SatNad finds himself out of a job, his successor might be far less friendly.

In the meantime, all the buddy-buddy attitude will have given Microsoft a headstart at sucking Linux dry and tossing it aside, if it decides to do so.

I think this cooperation is a good thing, don't get me wrong. It will benefit everyone. But letting down one's guard against a behemoth like Microsoft is asking for trouble in the future.

[dayglored]

Running With the Devil... wait, no, that's Van Halen ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Thanks to ShadowAce for the ping!!

[Dr. Sivana]

In the meantime, all the buddy-buddy attitude will have given Microsoft a headstart at sucking Linux dry and tossing it aside, if it decides to do so.

Nah...

First, Non-Microsoft Linux/Apache RUNS the real Internet.

Second, Microsoft's first canoodling with Linux was with Novell/SUSE, and response was lukewarm at best.

Third, the Enterprise has settled on Linux products, and so has IBM. RedHat is not going to be sucked dry by Microsoft.

Fourth, Ubuntu will still have a foothold in the developing world, because it can run leaner than Microsoft can.

Fifth, developers like Microsoft tools. Microsoft likes its developers (the smart thing MS has done all these years compared to Apple, Sun and IBM) and if they start using MS tools to develop Linux and Microsoft wants to pull the rug out, they can create GREAT hurt. It is not the same as dumping the Zune or "Plays for sure".

Your point about not letting your guard down with Microsoft is well taken. Inertia is generally on its side. In the Enterprise, AD may well win over LDAP.

[ThunderSleeps]

Me either. I think MS is looking to wedge into Linux as a cloud OS, but they are going to push Windows on the desktop/tablet/phone (ie. client side).

[huldah1776]

Bmp4L8R

[GOPJ]

You’re right - Shadow Ace stats on top of this stuff...

[zeugma]

More specifically, Microsoft absolutely must offer Linux to potential Azure customers if it's to have a cloud business at all, as offering Windows without Linux would be pretty much worthless. Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Azure's CTO, said as much during a keynote address at the All Things Open conference in October.

That's the bottom line for this. It would appear as well that the Azure infrastructure itself actually runs on Linux, so they had little choice in the matter.

[Paradox]

I have always been fascinated by the tribal nature of the geek community’s hatred towards certain OSs, and technology companies.

THIS.

But I suspect it is simply a part of human nature, a sort of Tribalism. In this case, you get to choose your tribe. Sports rivalries, politics (just check out the Trump vs the world threads).. most people tend to fall into such groups and the concomitant behaviors.

[miliantnutcase]

The version of Office 2016 for Mac OS is pretty decent. They could probably port that version to Linux fairly easy.

[hopespringseternal]

I run linux at home. It is complex because there is no money in it for vendors to support it and the market is tiny by comparison. Free is just not a viable business model no matter how many fanboys it has.

[Still Thinking]

How does this development create vulnerability for Linux in such a scenario? I’m not involved enough to understand that. Thanks!