MS Going to Linux?

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wutsinterweb
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MS Going to Linux?

Post by wutsinterweb »

So Microsoft has done some important things lately that support their use and everyone's use of Linux. I don't have the article I read, nor where I read it, but there seems to be a slight feeling that the company might even come out with a Linux version for consumers and might migrate to it. In time... This would be bad and good. Bad because it would put another target on Linux but very good because more people would be secure and it IS the better OS (Linux).
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CaptainKirksChair
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by CaptainKirksChair »

Microsoft is cognizant of how leaky and unsecure the Windows NT kernel has become. When I worked IT for a "world-wide major banking corporation" we would dread the second Tuesday of each month because there was always a good number of patches to Windows. One or two were usually critical updates that we had to push to 200,000+ computers in 48 hours. That became 24 hours just before I left. That was hell. The worst part was there were always more patches waiting in the queue to disrupt your business.

I think Microsoft wants to move to a more secure kernel. And the only answer to that is Linux. They will probably do what Apple did and just buy a copy of BSD and "personalize" it. But they're going to have to cut the cord with Windows 10 and older because none of that software will work on any version of Linux. So it will be a major effort on Microsoft's part. Which means they're not likely to jump into the shallow end head first. This will take some time and salesmanship.
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wutsinterweb
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by wutsinterweb »

And the article said that porting to Linux will be fairly well fascilitated by MS for softwares.

These are some crazy times.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by michael louwe »

wutsinterweb wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:28 am I don't have the article I read, nor where I read it, but there seems to be a slight feeling that the company might even come out with a Linux version for consumers and might migrate to it.
....... https://www.zdnet.com/article/ms-linux- ... top-linux/ - MS-Linux? Lindows? Could Microsoft release a desktop Linux?
Yes, yes they could. And I would no longer bet they won't. Here's why. - By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | December 13, 2018
.
I doubt it because M$ purposely came out with Win 10's monthly forced auto-updates, twice-per-year forced auto-upgrades and minutely forced Telemetry & Data collection for very specific and greedy reasons. Example:
1. Companies/businesses can no longer buy and use Win 10 Ent for up to 10 years without having already paid extra moolah or ca$h to M$, eg for Software Assurance "premiums", subscriptions or the twice-as-costly Ent LTSB editions. Previously, they could buy and use Win 7 Ent for up to 10 years without having to pay M$ extra dough.
2. Forced auto-updates and Telemetry & Data collection in Win 10 in 2015 allowed M$ to save US$millions yearly by laying off about 150 professional testers and 1200 lab computers in 2014.

The open-source nature of Linux does not allow M$ to force her way around if she wants the free help of Linux developers. If she goes the way of Apple/MacOS/Unix, M$ will not be saving much costs in OS software development and maintenance.
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Pierre
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by Pierre »

Yup - - that's the same Zdnet article that I've also read.
:roll:
Why do this? Because Microsoft still invests billions in developing Windows, while it brings less and less revenue to company. Remember when Microsoft claimed Windows 10 would have a billion users in a few years? Not happening. Microsoft could save some serious coin by making the Linux kernel the heart of its desktop operating system.
maybe - - but Maybe Not, too.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by murray »

Back in the 80's Microsoft had Xenix, which was their version of Unix, so it's not unheard of for Microsoft to be in this space.

I think it would be reasonable for MS to introduce a Linux-based OS at some stage in the future and run it concurrently with Windows for 5-10 years before finally stopping development on Windows.
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trytip
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by trytip »

not Lindows, i like Winux better
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by mediclaser »

trytip wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 5:48 pm not Lindows, i like Winux better
I would not stop there...MSix (pronounced "em-six") or MS-IX ("em-es-nine") would be more catchy. :wink:
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by jelabarre59 »

The suggestion I often make is MS could (or should) move their legacy code into a Wine-like runtime (they could actually use Wine itself if they didn't mind sublitting their code changes to Wine's GPL license, which I don't see them doing). Had they done it way back at the Wine/reWind split they could have followed reWind's X11 (BSD-like) license, but I think that project died years ago.

But if they moved the legacy code out of the core/kernel, they could strip it down to something more managable. While it wouldn't be Linux specifically, it would start to have a lot more in common with many open-source projects.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by MrGrimm »

wutsinterweb wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:28 am So Microsoft has done some important things lately that support their use and everyone's use of Linux. I don't have the article I read, nor where I read it, but there seems to be a slight feeling that the company might even come out with a Linux version for consumers and might migrate to it. In time... This would be bad and good. Bad because it would put another target on Linux but very good because more people would be secure and it IS the better OS (Linux).
i'm sorry but AhHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa microsour will NEVER do anything that doesn't make it money.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by jimallyn »

MrGrimm wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:17 pmi'm sorry but AhHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa microsour will NEVER do anything that doesn't make it money.
Which is why they would switch to Linux. Windows is not the cash cow it used to be.
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thenextguy

Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by thenextguy »

jimallyn wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:21 pm
MrGrimm wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:17 pmi'm sorry but AhHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa microsour will NEVER do anything that doesn't make it money.
Which is why they would switch to Linux. Windows is not the cash cow it used to be.
Indeed it isn't. Not when you can pick up a Windows 10 Enterprise Full Retail Edition license by download from ISVs at less than US$30.

However, I'd still very much doubt a move to a Linux kernel by MS. A move to a modified Mach kernel would seem far more likely, or a completely new Windows kernel based on top of a Hypervisor, which could also revive their fortunes in the server etc. sector. Something they could and should have done straight after Windows 7.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by BenTrabetere »

jimallyn wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:21 pm
MrGrimm wrote: Wed Dec 19, 2018 7:17 pmi'm sorry but AhHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa microsour will NEVER do anything that doesn't make it money.
Which is why they would switch to Linux. Windows is not the cash cow it used to be.
I think a BSD variant would be a more likely choice. MS Office is a cash cow; a BSD (MacOS) version already exists for it, which would offer a somewhat seamless transition for most users. If memory serves, the only Office components that are not available for Mac is Access and Publisher.

@MrGrimm: As for whether MS "will NEVER do anything that doesn't make it money," I am pretty sure Xbox is still a losing venture, the Surface is hardly a shining example of profitability, and I have yet to see a business model that shows how it will recoup the Github purchase.
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MrGrimm

Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by MrGrimm »

try again game consoles lose money themselves, but they are designed to do so to get people hooked on the EXTREMELY lucrative game market. believe me the xbox as a whole is EXTREMELY profitable for microsour.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by rambo919 »

The Surface is neither robust nor affordable in general.... hardly a mystery why it does not sell. The real mystery is why high end mac tablets sell..... must be nice having so much money to throw around on something semi-obsolete within 14 months.
Microsoft also failed hard with phones.... harder than any same company would since they only had to figure out the software..... Asha was beyond terrible.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by Reorx »

What was once old is now new again! (Interesting (historical) Wikipedia article)
"Microsoft hopes that XENIX will become the preferred choice for software production and exchange", the company stated in 1981. Microsoft referred to its own MS-DOS as its "single-user, single-tasking operating system", and advised customers that wanted multiuser or multitasking support to buy Xenix. It planned to over time improve MS-DOS so it would be almost indistinguishable from single-user Xenix, or XEDOS, which would also run on the 68000, Z8000, and LSI-11; they would be upwardly compatible with Xenix, which BYTE in 1983 described as "the multi-user MS-DOS of the future". Microsoft's Chris Larson described MS-DOS 2.0's Xenix compatibility as "the second most important feature". His company advertised DOS and Xenix together, listing the shared features of its "single-user OS" and "the multi-user, multi-tasking, UNIX-derived operating system", and promising easy porting between them.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by MrGrimm »

going back OVER 3 and a 1/2 decades for a DEAD project means nothing. yes i can see microsour getting on the linux train because of europe, but make no mistake it will most likely be riddled with ads and proprietary software. the model of something free to make money on what's connected to it has worked very well for a lot of companies including microsoft. don't think for a second microsoft is actually losing money with windows 10, cause they are not.
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by BG405 »

If MS adopted Linux in the ways suggested here, it would likely save them a fortune in development costs .. but how would that impact their proprietary-oriented-software business model?
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by all41 »

MS Going to Linux?
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Re: MS Going to Linux?

Post by MrGrimm »

BG405 wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:36 pm If MS adopted Linux in the ways suggested here, it would likely save them a fortune in development costs .. but how would that impact their proprietary-oriented-software business model?
answered
MrGrimm wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:09 am going back OVER 3 and a 1/2 decades for a DEAD project means nothing. yes i can see microsour getting on the linux train because of europe, but make no mistake it will most likely be riddled with ads and proprietary software. the model of something free to make money on what's connected to it has worked very well for a lot of companies including microsoft. don't think for a second microsoft is actually losing money with windows 10, cause they are not.
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