14 DAY TRIAL // Things have started to change on the Linux and Windows front and it looks like we might get to see some sort of partnership between the two platforms in the future. These are some strange times we live in.
A decade ago, Linux users had a ton of jokes about Windows and Bill Gates. The operating system developed by Microsoft took a much larger piece of the pie and it was arrogant about it. Besides the fact that it provided free distros and open source software solutions, the Linux ecosystem was also some kind of anti-establishment movement.
Linus Torvalds himself, the creator of the Linux kernel, said some very harsh things about Microsoft in the past and he joked, more than once, about destroying Microsoft. The Linux community was not kind, but neither were Windows’ fans. A sort of a silent war, albeit quite civilized, has been taking place for many years, but it might be coming to an end.
Is Microsoft switching sides?
Just a couple of days ago, the current CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, showed a very interesting slide during a presentation about Azure, which is the company's cloud service. "Microsoft loves Linux" was the message and it really took everyone by surprise.
The arrival of Satya Nadella as the CEO of Microsoft seems to have somewhat changed things in the company, just like the new Pope in Vatican. He wants to be more tolerant and he wants to make friends with everyone. A less belligerent Microsoft is a good partner for everyone.
The thing is that Microsoft's involvement in the Linux world is actually much bigger. The company is an active contributor to the Linux kernel (not a large one), it works under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation with other companies in a couple of projects, including founding the OpenSSL team, it has a great relationship with Canonical (whose Ubuntu system can run in Azure), and it now has a less aggressive general approach.
Don't forget – Microsoft is in it for the money
First of all, Microsoft wants to make money for the shareholders. That is the final and only goal. It's getting friendlier with Linux, the old conflict is going away, but this is a company that wants to turn a profit. That means that it will push for adoption of its proprietary software everywhere it can, it will continue to support closed formats like DOCX, and it will keep its software and kernel closed source.
What Satya Nadella is doing right now is acknowledging the contributions made by Linux in the hopes of scoring some points with the community and it works, at least partially. Now all he has to do is say that Windows might have borrowed some of the features found in Linux distros for years, and we might be getting somewhere.
In any case, Linux is not an entity and there can be no real partnership between Windows and it. Maybe I'm wrong and Microsoft is really making a genuine effort, but that remains to be seen. It will take more than what it has been done so far to convince people of its intentions, although the company seems to be on the right track.