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Windows goes open source? Microsoft plays coy
InfoWorld ^ | April 2, 2015 | (none)

Posted on 04/02/2015 2:41:35 PM PDT by dayglored

Could Microsoft's open source advocacy ever result in the company offering its cash cow Windows OS up to open source? It's possible, according to one Microsoft official, though his comments Wednesday should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt.

During a technology panel session in Silicon Valley, Microsoft's Mark Russinovich, CTO for the company's Azure cloud platform, did what Microsoft officials have been prone to doing in recent years: Preach Microsoft's conversion from open source skeptic to proponent. Open source, Russinovich said at the Chef Conf 2015 conference, was "no longer taboo" at the commercial software giant, pointing to Microsoft's accommodations for open source, such as having Linux account for roughly 20 percent of virtual machines deployed on Azure.

The company also recently open-sourced its .Net CoreCLR, as opting for open source can entice developers to use Microsoft technologies, Russinovich explained. "For something like .Net, we believe that that is an enabling technology that really can get people started on other Microsoft solutions."

Panel moderator Cade Metz, business editor at Wired, asked Russinovich if Windows itself might eventually be made open source, which elicited loud applause from the audience. "It's definitely possible," Russinovich responded. "Like I said, it's a new Microsoft." The company is having every conversation that could be imagined about what to do with its software and services, he said.

...

(Excerpt) Read more at infoworld.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: microsoft; opensource; windows; windows10; windowspinglist
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WTF? Open source Windows? Hey, who knows what's next?
1 posted on 04/02/2015 2:41:35 PM PDT by dayglored
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To: dayglored; Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; Alas Babylon!; amigatec; ...
Open Source Windows??? ... PING!


2 posted on 04/02/2015 2:42:32 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: dayglored

Microsoft has had a long life in the tech sector by not sitting on its laurels and past achievements.

It is healthy to open yourself to every possibility if you wish to stay in the lead.


3 posted on 04/02/2015 2:44:48 PM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Walker/Cruz 2016)
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To: dayglored

Grain of salt? I’d say about a 100 pound block.


4 posted on 04/02/2015 2:45:20 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users contnue...)
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To: dayglored

MICROSOFT OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS


5 posted on 04/02/2015 2:49:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: dayglored

I know you’re excited about having your very own ping list on Windows, but when I open my browser and find the first several pings are the Windows ping list, it’s a little too much for me. Especially when they are posted elsewhere and I can choose them for myself.

So good luck with your list, but please remove my name.


6 posted on 04/02/2015 2:51:25 PM PDT by wildbill (If you check behind the shower curtain for a murderer, and find one.... what's your plan?)
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To: wildbill
> So good luck with your list, but please remove my name.

No problem, done.

7 posted on 04/02/2015 2:54:54 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: dayglored

There was talk of open sourcing Powershell at the Powershell Summit last year, and there’s been quite a bit of collaboration between the MS and the Linux community developing cross-platform automation and configuration management solutions.


8 posted on 04/02/2015 2:59:09 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: tacticalogic
> ...open sourcing Powershell at the Powershell Summit last year,... cross-platform automation and configuration management solutions

Oh, man! Be still my beating heart!!

One of the worst things about the hybrid/heterogeneous networks I manage is coming up with anything that works across all the machines. Thank God for Cygwin, but that's got its limits. A PowerShell for non-Windows machines would be very cool indeed.

9 posted on 04/02/2015 3:02:46 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: dayglored

I read that they Windows 10 will come with a feature to block users from dual booting with Linux


10 posted on 04/02/2015 3:02:48 PM PDT by GeronL (CLEALY CRUZ 2016)
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To: SeekAndFind

Geez, that’s a lot of projects. Granted, many were already open-source before MS got their hands on them, but still, a lot there.


11 posted on 04/02/2015 3:03:41 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: Swordmaker
> ...a 100 pound block

Well, yeah... I'll see your 100 pound block and raise you another just like it...

But hey, it's nice to think about.

What the heck -- Microsoft already opened the Windows source to the Chinese Communists -- why not patriotic Americans too???

12 posted on 04/02/2015 3:05:20 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: GeronL
I read that they Windows 10 will come with a feature to block users from dual booting with Linux

It will use UEFI (Secure Boot) which would have to be disabled to boot to a unsigned OS kernel. Whether to allow that or not is in the bios configuration so it's the hardware manufacturer's decision, not Microsoft's.

13 posted on 04/02/2015 3:07:57 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: GeronL
> I read that they Windows 10 will come with a feature to block users from dual booting with Linux

Indirectly, yes. Microsoft will now allow computer manufacturers to block non-Windows operating systems. Strictly speaking it's not a Windows 10 feature, it's a permission from Microsoft to the hardware/BIOS vendors to lock out anything without trusted certification. A few Linuxes are pursuing the proper certification.

I'll get some details for you and be right back...

14 posted on 04/02/2015 3:08:02 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: GeronL; tacticalogic

LOL. What he (tacticalogic) said.


15 posted on 04/02/2015 3:08:57 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: dayglored

bump

thanks


16 posted on 04/02/2015 3:09:18 PM PDT by GeronL (CLEALY CRUZ 2016)
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To: GeronL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface
17 posted on 04/02/2015 3:10:07 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: tacticalogic

ok thnx


18 posted on 04/02/2015 3:14:15 PM PDT by GeronL (CLEALY CRUZ 2016)
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To: dayglored

I’m amused the Russinovich went from programming a whole raft of tools to get around Microsoft’s deliberately obfuscated OS model to being the CTO and advocate.

I love the guy, don’t get me wrong, but he’s being played by Satya.


19 posted on 04/02/2015 3:21:14 PM PDT by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: rarestia
> I love the guy, don’t get me wrong, but he’s being played by Satya.

As long as my collection of SysInternals stuff keeps working, I'll sing his praises, whether he's sold out or not. That stuff is a life saver.

20 posted on 04/02/2015 3:23:45 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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