Get over it: Microsoft is a Linux and open source company these days (Opinion column)

The Register ^ | Jul 13, 2022 | Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

[dayglored]

Interesting opinion column.

Should be good for a few pithy comments. :-)

[dayglored]

Microsoft Loves Linux ... PING!

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

[Bob434]

but i don’t have to pith

[libh8er]

MS was stupidly managed under Ballmer and is one of the best managed companies under Nadella. That’s the difference.

[dayglored]

I will opine that I largely agree with the author, in that Microsoft has certainly dropped its overt hatred and animosity toward Linux/open-source in the past few years. I'm especially impressed by the degree to which Windows has incorporated Linux.

Nevertheless, I recognize that Microsoft is a business, not a charity, and the company has no morals, and no qualms about doing whatever they think they need to do to prosper.

Do I trust Microsoft? LOL. I trust Microsoft... to do what they think is good for Microsoft. No more, no less.

[dayglored]

> but i don’t have to pith

Well played, sir.

[jz638]

Stop judging Microsoft on what it did a decade ago and judge it by what it's doing today.

Microsoft, like most software companies anymore, is a rental agency. It's nigh upon impossible to own copies of the software it creates. I don't know if proprietary open source software (POSS) is a thing -- or proprietary open source software as a service (POSSaaS), but maybe that's what the author is going for.

[dayglored]

> MS was stupidly managed under Ballmer and is one of the best managed companies under Nadella. That’s the difference.

Excellent point.

[SecondAmendment]

> I will opine that I largely agree with the author, in that Microsoft has certainly dropped its overt hatred and animosity toward Linux/open-source in the past few years. I'm especially impressed by the degree to which Windows has incorporated Linux.

Windows was and is to computing what COVID-19 is to humanity, an existential threat which had caused orders of magnitude more harm than good, and was forcefully spread via highly unethical, illegal, and immoral business practices .... and Bill Gates is behind both of them !

[algore]

“Microsoft has certainly dropped its overt hatred and animosity toward Linux/open-source in the past few years. I’m especially impressed by the degree to which Windows has incorporated Linux”

Don’t forget then android subsystem for Win 11

[dayglored]

> Windows was and is to computing what COVID-19 is to humanity, an existential threat ... and Bill Gates is behind both of them !

No disagreement about Gates being behind both.

Over time both Windows and COVID-19 have become far less virulent than they were at their peaks. One difference, though, is that while COVID has become more widespread, Windows is constantly losing market share to other operating systems. I don't expect Windows to disappear any time soon, but the trend is undeniable -- Windows' best days were years ago, and it's now on a long, slow decline into irrelevance. I give it 10-15 years. And it may have to morph into something else before then, just to survive.

[McGruff]

PCs are to 1990s.

[Gene Eric]

I wouldn’t say IS, but definitely trending towards being true.

[minnesota_bound]

‘The Evil Empire’ hasn’t been evil for about eight years now.

Windows 10/11 spy’s on you. If using Office 365 and newer versions everything you type can be recorded. It certainly is at work. Other software by other companies do spy on you but that is mainly for work sites and not your home. Windows and Office spy’s on you at home. There are software that says they can block this but it is like someone (microsoft) trying to peek into your home all the time.

Google: Microsoft Office spy’s on you
Windows 10/11 spy’s on you

Remember cbs reporter Sharyl Attkisson who had her pc hacked during the obama/Biden years and it was thought to be from cbs and the federal gov’t. She feared they were trying to set her up by placing secret gov’t files on the pc.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/01/14/sharyl_attkisson_how_government_illegally_spied_on_journaists_and_doctored_documents.html

[Dr. Sivana]

PCs are to 1990s.

I LOVE my PC, with its full sized, clicky keyboard, 42" screen 32GB RAM, 2x1 TB .m2 SSD, 3.8Ghz i7-9700, 5 unused slots, Built-In Blu-Ray and a boatload of software for it to run in both Windows and Linux.

[minnesota_bound]

Mini PC’s are the future. I am still using my 2015 Gigabyte pc.
https://www.amazon.com/Ryzen-Radeon-Graphics-Bluetooth-DisplayPort/dp/B09KR7M5DR/ref=zg_bs_13896591011_9/134-6569234-4596534?pd_rd_i=B09KR7M5DR&psc=1

[Dr. Sivana]

Mini PC’s are the future. I am still using my 2015 Gigabyte pc.

I had a mini-PC (itx, Acer Veriton i5 w/12GB RAM, 2 TB SSD). It over-heated when I ran big databases and complex spreadsheets at the same time. It didn't like being maxed out. I ran out of slots. I prefer Intel not because of any inherent superiority in processing power, but because I prefer the Intel chipsets for business boards.

I like big slush box luxury cars with V-8s and high speed computers that aren't shy on consuming power.

[MayflowerMadam]

LOL!

[McGruff]

I agree with you. Those dam phones with their little screens aren’t for me. Give me a real keyboard and a big monitor.

[ShadowAce]

'The Evil Empire' hasn't been evil for about eight years now

I'll have to say--maybe. I still don't trust MS to do anything just because it's right. I understand it's a business, etc, etc, etc. but businesses need to conduct themselves with ethics.

It'll take a lot more than 8 years of "not being evil" for me to trust again. Part of that will be at least a decade of "let's actively do good."