Microsoft's Growing Control of Linux

https://lunduke.substack.com/p/microsofts-growing-control-of-linux

by josteink • 4 years ago

35 35 4 years ago

lunduke.substack.com

qwertyX99• 4 years ago

Scary.

torginus2• 4 years ago

There's an enduring belief in the Linux community that the reason the year of the Linux desktop hasn't come about has nothing to do with lack of stable ABI, API, murky processes of app distribution, inaccessible development processes, basic functionality like graphics acceleration or audio being dodgy for decades, but is exclusively due to dastardly machinations of Micro$oft (with a dollar sign of course, as other, trillion dollar tech companies who use Linux, aren't in it for the money).

Please grow up and take a look in the mirror.

weare1382• 4 years ago

The article never mentions Linux on the desktop.

alophawen• 4 years ago

The article never mentions Linux on the desktop.

The comment you reply to never claimed that it did.

Why not reflect on the content of the comment and be a part of the discussion instead of .. this?

torginus2• 4 years ago

I think it is implied - I mean why else would one be fearmongering about big bad Microsoft?

The server? - The vast majority of the server market runs Linux - including much of Azure. Likewise there's no presence of Windows in the handheld market (I'm not sure if this counts as a win for Linux, since Android is barely Linux).

akagusu3• 4 years ago

People have been warning this for a decade and nobody listened.

But I am shocked to know Lennart "Systemd" Poettering is working for Microsoft.

To be fair with Microsoft, they are only following Red Hat's playbook.

Red Hat has been doing this for 3 decades: they pay for conferences, they donate for projects and they hire developers working in such projects.

This was how Red Hat took influence over almost the entire Linux desktop stack: GTK, Gnome, Flatpack, Wayland, Systemd, Pulseaudio and many others fundamental pieces of software have their development process controlled by Red Hat employees.

Microsoft is just following what already worked.

jjgreen• 4 years ago

If you want to be old-school, "M$ystemd"

LeanderK• 4 years ago

Is Red Hat still following the playbook? The more companies are engaging in this sort of strategy, the less concentrated the control should be, right?

akagusu3• 4 years ago

Yes.

Others are doing the same, probably to take some control for themselves, but have a look on the recent conversation about GTK5 being Wayland-only.

It is the same playbook they used to force Systemd adoption all over again.

So, yes, they are still using the same playbook.

csimai• 4 years ago

It could also be that open source/free software has become so successful that Microsoft can't avoid bumping up against it anymore. The issue to fear, in my view, is legislation that would potentially eviscerate open source licensing models.

Microsoft, Red Hat, others providing money to open source initiatives is a double edged sword with good and potentially bad side effects.

2022062412032• 4 years ago

Why wouldn't they want to control something, that is just a subsystem for Windows? Seems logical to me.

mm007emko• 4 years ago

Comments like these seriously haunt me. How many people there are who really think that?

2022062412032• 4 years ago

To me as a developer:

Linux people: convert to Linux - it's better.

Microsoft: I got you, let me bring Linux to you.

PoignardAzur2• 4 years ago

“Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.” — Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer
Just the same, over the last few years, Microsoft has invested heavily in obtaining control over key portions of the Linux (and, to some degree, open source) ecosystem.

This seems incredibly disingenuous.

The article is implying there's a smooth continuity between these two sentences, and basically pretending Satya Nadella doesn't exist.

This is like saying "For years, Microsoft has completely ignored accessibility in video games. And now they're investing in the adaptive controller and forcing developers to implement accessibility features? Why? Why are trying to control accessibility?" without mentioning Phil Spencer.

Well. If we’re simply being practical and objective… Microsoft seems to have achieved the “Embrace” and “Extend” portion of the old “Embrace. Extend. Extinguish.” business plan.

How? How have they done that? Leaving aside that Microsoft hasn't done EEE in a while, the article doesn't mention anything that could count as the "Extend" part of EEE. They haven't released an extended version of Linux with Microsoft-exclusive features, they haven't created special Github plans that only work if you're using Microsoft Office, they haven't released a special version of Git that only works with Visual Studio or VsCode, etc.

There's reasonable distrust, which Microsoft certainly has earned, and then there's paranoia.

dx034• 4 years ago

Well, Balmer's been gone for 8 years, so MSFT shouldn't be seen as it was when he was CEO.

xet77• 4 years ago

Microsoft begins "Extinguish" phase of dealing with Open Source:

https://lunduke.substack.com/p/microsoft-begins-extinguish-p...

PoignardAzur2• 4 years ago

From the linked article:

On June 16th, Microsoft updated the policy for the Microsoft store to include the following restriction for all software sold: “to prohibit charging fees in the Store for open-source or other software that is generally available for free”

The obvious non-evil interpretation is that this policy is intended to stop scalpers who eg sell Mozilla Firefox on Windows Store.

On June 16, we shared a policy aimed to protect customers from misleading listings,in effect from July 16. In listening to dev community,we got feedback it could be perceived differently than intended.We'll delay enforcement of that policy until we clarify the intent. Stay tuned.

Of course the GM posting this could be lying and the intent could be to specifically harm open-source, but... that doesn't seem likely given the evidence we have?

As evidence that Microsoft is doing "Extinguish", this is very thin.

xet77• 4 years ago

Microsoft released Linux distro:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-released-cbl-mar...

Tijdreiziger• 4 years ago

they haven't released a special version of Git that only works with Visual Studio or VsCode, etc

They _have_ released special versions of VS Code's C++, C#, and Python tools that only work with Microsoft-sanctioned binaries. [1][2]

They also ripped out a .NET feature at the last minute because they wanted to keep it exclusive to Visual Studio. [3]

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/k0s8qw/vs_code_devel...

[2] https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/blob/master/DOCS.md#pro...

[3] https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/22/22740701/microsoft-dotne...

entropicgravity• 4 years ago

Embrace, extend, extinguish. Microsoft's bread and butter.

sylware• 4 years ago

This is certainly not sane to presume that m$ is not pulling some strings in the shadows. Don't forget they own the linkedin database, they are "all-knowing" of ppl professional networks (or probably good chunks of them): targeted recruitment can be extremely efficient: you know, that "random" microsoft guy in the cafe who did offer you your current job. Amazon does employ the daughter of one of its most powerfull regulators in the USA... as a lobbyist (last week tonight show with John Oliver).

Is this that unfortunate that the "absolutely non-controversial" systemd (I don't run that horrible BIP) author ends up in m$? (irony).

"why ID software is not releasing doom glibc/linux builds anymore?" to learn that m$ bought their parent company. BTW, will that happen too for silk song (the game)?

How much of the linux kernel you have into the doz kernel?

h2odragon• 4 years ago

Github was scary enough just as a monolith of FOSS code. In microsoft's hands, it's terrifying: they have shown lack of integrity in the past that makes their current professions (and examples!) of civilized behavior suspect.

Is your project dead or is it just that Github et all the PR's others sent? Is your project discoverable there or is it buried in irrelevant search results?

Could Microsoft open some of their older code? a FOSS (as far as possible) Win2k would still be of value to the world.

xet77• 4 years ago

Microsoft DOS https://github.com/Microsoft/MS-DOS

Microsoft WinFile https://github.com/Microsoft/winfile

Outside of Microsoft created Windows 2003 32bit: - https://reactos.org - https://github.com/wekan/wekan/wiki/ReactOS

xet77• 4 years ago

Outside of Microsoft created DOS:

https://freedos.org

xet77• 4 years ago

Microsoft GW-Basic https://github.com/microsoft/GW-BASIC

xet77• 4 years ago

Microsoft 3D Movie Maker: