CEO Satya Nadella: Microsoft Loves Linux

Softpedia ^ | 10/27/2014 | By Bogdan Popa

[SeekAndFind]

Gone are the days when Linux was considered just “a cancer” by Microsoft’s big honchos, as the new CEO of the Redmond-based company says the open-source platform is quickly gaining ground on its Azure platform. Speaking at a cloud event in San Francisco, Nadella has suggested that “Microsoft loves Linux,” pointing out that the company is working to offer support for more Linux distributions through its Azure cloud service. Nearly 20 percent of Azure is Linux-friendly, he revealed, adding that starting this week, CoreOS is also supported. CentOS, Oracle Linux, Suse, and Ubuntu were already working on Azure.

What’s more, Nadella has revealed that Microsoft is working with Red Hat to make Enterprise Linux run on Azure as well, but more information on this will only be provided at a later time.

During his keynote, Nadella was standing in front of a banner with a text reading “Microsoft heart Linux,” trying to suggest that Redmond no longer sees the open-source world as one of its fiercest rivals.

Ballmer: “Linux is a cancer”

Nadella’s way of doing business seems to be entirely different from that of his predecessor Steve Ballmer, who called Linux in a 2001 interview “a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.”

There’s no doubt that Linux wasn’t quite the best partner for Windows a few years ago, but Ballmer shocked pretty much everyone when he compared the open-source platform with a terrible disease. And what’s worse, he never apologized for it, but instead added the following:

“The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source.”

Not just a Windows vs. Ubuntu battle

The rivalry between Microsoft and open-source software comes down for most users to the competition between Windows and Ubuntu, which at this point is the number one Linux distribution out there.

There’s no doubt that, at least on the desktop, Windows still has no rival, holding a market share that’s bigger than 90% worldwide. On the mobile market, on the other hand, Windows is doing poorly, so the desktop continues to be its key focus despite all Microsoft’s efforts to push it into the world of tablets and smartphones.

But Windows and open source are not only about the desktop, and Microsoft’s commitment to make more Linux distributions work on Azure is living proof. The company has finally understood the potential of Linux in its cloud environment, so making more distros available for customers is clearly a priority.

How are things going on the desktop?

Without doubt, Linux has improved a lot lately and it’s now considered a much more user-friendly operating system, so it’s no surprise that many Windows users actually installed it on their PCs. Windows XP users, for example, found Ubuntu one of the best replacements for their outdated OS, moving to Linux in search for a secure working environment that still worked on old configurations.

But adoption figures continue to put Linux in a bad light, at least according to market researchers across the world.

Net Applications claims that in September 2014, Windows was running on 91.98 percent of the computers worldwide, while Linux was only installed on 1.64 percent of them. The rest of 6.38 percent are powered by Mac OS X.

Of course, it’s pretty clear that Linux has a lot of potential, but for the time being, Windows continues to be the undisputed leader on the desktop.

September 2014 market shares of desktop platforms

[publius911]

There's no explanation as to how "the cloud" would make Microsoft have a change of heart about Linux.
if MS thinks clouds are the future, where another Hussein Obama can turn everyone's data off, they are delusional...

Same goes for "renting" instead of owning software. There are not enough "money-no-object" businesses in the country to make that work.

Hmmm.
Perhaps MS is planning to hijack or destroy open source competition of all kinds? I simply do not trust them.

[publius911]

Bookmark

[Utilizer]

Linux will have one more user later today; I’m converting a former XP box to Ubuntu.

I am pleased to admit that although I missed one, as of last weekend roughly nine 'doze boxen which were a combination of 2k, XP, and W7 units have already been reconfigured to run as Linux Platforms instead.

Add to that, I have two more units coming in tomorrow to be reconfigured, the only thing lacking after their initial evaluations and upgrades will be the preferred Linux OS to be installed in each.

Just doing a small bit for the betterment of all. *smile*

[sand88]

Seek, your source is incorrect. Wikipedia, MarketWatch and many other technical source can easily refute the pie charts your present.

In Server environments Linux is #1 at over 36%, Windows has 33% marketshare.

In the smartphone and tablet market Linux (Android) is again #1 at over 49%. Windows share is under 2%.

In the Top 500 Supercomputer Market Linux dominates the market with over 98% of the installs.

I develop software across many platforms. I find the windows vs Linux arguments a bit petty. However, we should be more careful and present factual data.

Have a good night.

[sand88]

Seek, I need to clarify my previous post. I was commenting after viewing your first post (#3) with pie charts. My previous post was in response to your #3 post.

Your post #5 with sources and pie charts was different. I reviewed some of the links at the source your listed. Some of the comparisons can be interpreted differently if one compares dollars vs unit sales. Others sources can vary if only comparing publicly accessed systems.

Even though wiki can be quite suspect when it comes to politics, climate science, and history, they do seem to be quite reliable when it comes to computer technology. Their data falls in line with most other sources I read.

Have a good day.

[Moonman62]

That isn’t going to change anytime soon, however the disaster that is windows 8 has and will continue to push more and more folks over to Mac.

...

Really? I think it’s kept people on Windows 7.

[Moonman62]

Linux doesn’t have that advantage.

...

But it does have the advantage of being free.

[Moonman62]

I have to have Linux so I can safely click on email that my uncle Bob sends me and I’m addicted to Gnome Mahjong.

...

LOL. The few years I ran Linux, I played a lot of Mahjong.

[ShadowAce]

I like this one--I use it all the time:

GREEN='\[\033[32m\]'
RED='\[\033[31m\]'
NC='\[\033[37m\]'

PS1="\u@\w \`if [ \$? = 0 ]; then echo ${GREEN}:\\\)${NC}; else echo ${RED}:\\\(${NC}; fi\`"

[HamiltonJay]

It has kept them on 7, but if they need to upgrade, more of them will just go to Mac and be done with Windows.

Windows 8 is an unmitigated disaster.

Business’s won’t move, too much of a pain, but individuals, yep, they will decide they are done. Not all of them, but more than would have prior to Windows 8.

[HamiltonJay]

Hate to break it to you, but all consumer operating systems will be free in a few years... Mac OS already is, and the decision by Apple to give away their OS’s rather than charge for them saved the company Millions of Dollars, because it moved their user base to a common platform and reduced the need for legacy support.

Android is Free.

IOS is free.

Windows 10 will be Free for 8X owners, and my guess is they will move to the free model in the next year or two, they already have limited in their mobile world, giving it away for devices under a certain size. They really don’t have a choice..they will try to hold out as long as they can, but the writing is on the wall.

They may keep some preimum OS for fee, but the base OS will be free from all vendors within a few years, or they will no longer be an OS provider.

Writing is on the wall for that one, Linux being free at one time was a competitive advantage, but its one that is going to be gone in short order.

[Moonman62]

I just don’t see it. Vista didn’t send people to the Mac in droves and neither will 8, and 8’s a much better OS.

[HamiltonJay]

Vista was not remotely the crash and burn that 8 has been.

Vista didn’t change the user paradigm... 8 did, and in a horrifically bad way.

Also Vista was release in 07 when the juggernaught that would be the Mac Ecosystem for devices only contained a classic Ipod, as well as data interchangeability which is far more open than 7 years ago.

The barrier to changing OS’s is not what it was for the consumer.

Its a different world in 2014.

[Moonman62]

With a few tweaks Windows 8 looks and feels just like 7, but is a better underlying OS. I think your claims are wishful thinking. Most people will either stay with 7, tweak 8, or wait for 10, rather than switch to the Beach Ball of Death.

[cothrige]

I personally think too much is made of the numbers regarding desktop share. For as long as I can remember Windows has dominated the market, and for just as long they have been a distant last in terms of value. I have been using Linux for something like fifteen years and I have seen no downside from the small market share. It has always done what I wanted and the way I wanted. Over the past few years there have been incredible advances in technology on the system, and we have even seen things like Steam ported over. What exactly does having so small a market share done to hurt Linux? Nothing. It is the community that matters, and there is nothing lacking there.

[HamiltonJay]

Sorry, but if you think “tweaking” to see a big screen full of apps listed and having to scroll through multiple screens vs a few centimeters of mouse movement is the equivalent of windows 7, you are in denial, and lets not even get into if you are foolish enough to launch a metro app and want to figure out how to actually close it.

Its a disaster, I know MS wants to spin it otherwise, but the market has spoken, its so much of a disaster not only are they trying to get a replacement out the door in the quickest time possible, they are skipping an entire version number in hopes it will further distance themselves from it.

I can speak first hand, I could use a hardware upgrade, but I have held off due to Windows 8... have to work with it at work and its a fustercluck to put it nicely. Even though it will cost me 3-4 times as much to buy new Mac hardware, I will almost certainly buy a Mac to replace my personal windows machine... and I know I am not alone, and be done with MS once and for all.

Whoever thought lets take the ZUNE effing interface and make it the default desktop/laptop experience was a complete moron. MS thought, like IBM did back in the day, they could force users/customers to their way of thinking... It didn’t work. If you have to EXPLAIN how your UX/UI is superior, then your UX/UI is a failure.

They are becoming less relevant in the consumer world daily, largely because with mobile, just like the internet they were so damned worried about protecting their turf they missed the boat.. but unlike the 90s where they could use their ubiquitous ownership of the desktop to force their crap on folks, the world has moved on.

Its a post MS world, and while the company will continue on, its days of being any sort of driver in the marketplace, particularly the consumer marketplace are long long gone.

[Moonman62]

Its a post MS world,

...

Their stock chart, revenues and earnings say otherwise. I’ve always despised Microsoft, but I do use Win 8. I like it just as well as I liked XP.

[HamiltonJay]

I said its a post MS world as far as consumer products, they are making money and aren’t going anywhere, mostly in things like their cloud offerings, and in business, but their consumer footprint and influence has declined astronomically.

And windows 8 because of its ridiculous paradigm has gotten businesses to largely refuse to use it. MS isn’t running away screaming from Windows 8 by choice, its because they have no choice.

I never said MS is going out of business, I said its days of being a technology driver, particularly in the consumer space is over.

[zeugma]

I like this one--I use it all the time:

Interesting. However, for colorblind folks like myself, there is not enough contrast. I may play with some color combinations to see if I can use this in place of the smiley/frowny

[ShadowAce]

Yeah—the smileys are green and the frownies are red. Like yousaid—you need to tweak it to suit tastes/needs.