Microsoft and Linux: True Romance or Toxic Love?

Microsoft and Linux: True Romance or Toxic Love?



Every now and then, you come across a news story that makes you choke on your coffee or splutter hot latte all over your monitor. Microsoft's recent proclamations of love for Linux is an outstanding example of such a story.

Common sense says that Microsoft and the FOSS movement should be perpetual enemies. In the eyes of many, Microsoft embodies most of the greedy excesses that the Free Software movement rejects. In addition, Microsoft previously has labeled Linux as a cancer and the FOSS community as a "pack of thieves".

We can understand why Microsoft has been afraid of a free operating system. When combined with open-source applications that challenge Microsoft's core line, it threatens Microsoft's grip on the desktop/laptop market.

In spite of Microsoft's fears over its desktop dominance, the Web server marketplace is one arena where Linux has had the greatest impact. Today, the majority of Web servers are Linux boxes. This includes most of the world's busiest sites. The sight of so much unclaimed licensing revenue must be painful indeed for Microsoft.

Handheld devices are another realm where Microsoft has lost ground to free software. At one point, its Windows CE and Pocket PC operating systems were at the forefront of mobile computing. Windows-powered PDA devices were the shiniest and flashiest gadgets around. But, that all ended when Apple released its iPhone. Since then, Android has stepped into the limelight, with Windows Mobile largely ignored and forgotten. The Android platform is built on free and open-source components.

The rapid expansion in Android's market share is due to the open nature of the platform. Unlike with iOS, any phone manufacturer can release an Android handset. And, unlike with Windows Mobile, there are no licensing fees. This has been really good news for consumers. It has led to lots of powerful and cheap handsets appearing from manufacturers all over the world. It's a very definite vindication of the value of FOSS software.

Losing the battle for the Web and mobile computing is a brutal loss for Microsoft. When you consider the size of those two markets combined, the desktop market seems like a stagnant backwater. Nobody likes to lose, especially when money is on the line. And, Microsoft does have a lot to lose. You would expect Microsoft to be bitter about it. And in the past, it has been.

Microsoft has fought back against Linux and FOSS using every weapon at its disposal, from propaganda to patent threats, and although these attacks have slowed the adoption of Linux, they haven't stopped it.

So, you can forgive us for being shocked when Microsoft starts handing out t-shirts and badges that say "Microsoft Loves Linux" at open-source conferences and events. Could it be true? Does Microsoft really love Linux?

Of course, PR slogans and free t-shirts do not equal truth. Actions speak louder than words. And when you consider Microsoft's actions, Microsoft's stance becomes a little more ambiguous.

On the one hand, Microsoft is recruiting hundreds of Linux developers and sysadmins. It's releasing its .NET Core framework as an open-source project with cross-platform support (so that .NET apps can run on OS X and Linux). And, it is partnering with Linux companies to bring popular distros to its Azure platform. In fact, Microsoft even has gone so far as to create its own Linux distro for its Azure data center.

On the other hand, Microsoft continues to launch legal attacks on open-source projects directly and through puppet corporations. It's clear that Microsoft hasn't had some big moral change of heart over proprietary vs. free software, so why the public declarations of adoration?

To state the obvious, Microsoft is a profit-making entity. It's an investment vehicle for its shareholders and a source of income for its employees. Everything it does has a single ultimate goal: revenue. Microsoft doesn't act out of love or even hate (although that's a common accusation).

So the question shouldn't be "does Microsoft really love Linux?" Instead, we should ask how Microsoft is going to profit from all this.

Let's take the open-source release of .NET Core. This move makes it easy to port the .NET runtime to any platform. That extends the reach of Microsoft's .NET framework far beyond the Windows platform.

Opening .NET Core ultimately will make it possible for .NET developers to produce cross-platform apps for OS X, Linux, iOS and even Android--all from a single codebase.

From a developer's perspective, this makes the .NET framework much more attractive than before. Being able to reach many platforms from a single codebase dramatically increases the potential target market for any app developed using the .NET framework.

What's more, a strong Open Source community would provide developers with lots of code to reuse in their own projects. So, the availability of open-source projects would make the .NET framework.

On the plus side, opening .NET Core reduces fragmentation across different platforms and means a wider choice of apps for consumers. That means more choice, both in terms of open-source software and proprietary apps.

From Microsoft's point of view, it would gain a huge army of developers. Microsoft profits by selling training, certification, technical support, development tools (including Visual Studio) and proprietary extensions.

The question we should ask ourselves is does this benefit or hurt the Free Software community?

Widespread adoption of the .NET framework could mean the eventual death of competing open-source projects, forcing us all to dance to Microsoft's tune.

Moving beyond .NET, Microsoft is drawing a lot of attention to its Linux support on its Azure cloud computing platform. Remember, Azure originally was Windows Azure. That's because Windows Server was the only supported operating system. Today, Azure offers support for a number of Linux distros too.

There's one reason for this: paying customers who need and want Linux services. If Microsoft didn't offer Linux virtual machines, those customers would do business with someone else.

It looks like Microsoft is waking up to the fact that Linux is here to stay. Microsoft cannot feasibly wipe it out, so it has to embrace it.

This brings us back to the question of why there is so much buzz about Microsoft and Linux. We're all talking about it, because Microsoft wants us to think about it. After all, all these stories trace back to Microsoft, whether it's through press releases, blog posts or public announcements at conferences. The company is working hard to draw attention to its Linux expertise.

What other possible purpose could be behind Chief Architect Kamala Subramaniam's blog post announcing Azure Cloud Switch? ACS is a custom Linux distro that Microsoft uses to automate the configuration of its switch hardware in the Azure data centers.

ACS is not publicly available. It's intended for internal use in the Azure data center, and it's unlikely that anyone else would be able to find a use for it. In fact, Subramaniam states the same thing herself in her post.

So, Microsoft won't be making any money from selling ACS, and it won't attract a user base by giving it away. Instead, Microsoft gets to draw attention to Linux and Azure, strengthening its position as a Linux cloud computing platform.

Is Microsoft's new-found love for Linux good news for the community?

We shouldn't be slow to forget Microsoft's mantra of Embrace, Extend and Exterminate. Right now, Microsoft is very much in the early stages of embracing Linux. Will Microsoft seek to splinter the community through custom extensions and proprietary "standards"?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.