Microsoft Deploys Linux, Open Software in Test Lab

securitas writes "Microsoft has deployed Linux and other open-source software in test labs used by business customers to experiment with Microsoft's products. The products include Linux, Apache, MySQL and Open LDAP directory-access software on Intel-based computers, according to Martin Taylor, who is in charge of Microsoft's Linux competitive strategy. He said the goal was to learn 'what can you do and how can you do it' using open-source software in a competitive analysis. This step comes after Microsoft's recent admission that Linux is Microsoft's biggest threat after economic conditions. Mirrors at CMPnetAsia and InternetWeek." It'd be cool to see some patches come from Redmond, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Comments

MIcrosoft Linux

[RhoryCalhoon]

Is a Microsoft flavor of Linux coming? It could be this week's sign of the Apocalypse.

Re:MIcrosoft Linux

[TheOldFart]

>> Control

>> It'd be cool to see some patches come from Redmond...

Yeah. I can see that. The patches coming out of Microsoft would come in stages. Patch number 1 should be worn for two weeks, and then patch number 2 for another 3 weeks, and finally, if the symptoms of addictions were still present, wear patch number 3 for another 2 weeks. Once we've all gone through the patch process, we would finally be free of this awful habit of smok... I mean, using non Microsoft nicot... I mean, software.

Re:What is it running on?

[Sophrosyne]

It's actually being emulated within Windows XP... that way engineers are exposed to a "regular" rate of crashing and don't get too suspicious.
The last thing Microsoft wants is for its engineers to switch over themselves.

MS Patch to Linux Kernel

[rjamestaylor]

diff -urN ms-linux/CREDITS linux/CREDITS
--- ms-linux/CREDITS Wed Jul 31 17:39:29 2001
+++ linux/CREDITS Wed Jul 31 17:41:45 2001
@@ -973,8 +973,8 @@
/*
-ALL YOUR BASE
+BELONGS TO US
*/

Re:Patches from Redmond

[blackwizard]

Maybe they could put in a patch that would make Linux display a friendly blue screen when it crashes instead of a kernel panic message. Embrace and extend!

SCO Connection! (Microsoft paid SCO license fees)

[innosent]

Wow, somebody actually did pay SCO to license and use Linux!

The begining of the end for Microsoft.

[rusty0101]

First Linux gets deployed for testing in a test lab at Microsoft.

In order to get it's performance down to a level that they can compare Microsoft software to it they start storing internal documents on it and tell internal users to use that store to stay current.

Since the internal servers are now getting fewer hits, they start consolidating some of the services they had spread across several servers onto fewer servers, freeing up those servers.

A few of the free servers get rouge installs of Linux with Samba, and people discover that they can actually store files on these servers with some reliable expectation of seeing the files again a couple of minutes down the line.

The Micorsoft Win2k+3 servers start to respond even faster to the test systems and more consolidation goes on.

Someone in the test lab isn't happy that the Linux boxes are still outperforming the Win2k+3 boxen, so he convinces management to use them as DHCP servers for the campus.

This frees up even more of the internal Win2k+3 servers from consolidation, and someone says, let's show that SQL Server is better than (insert favorite Open Sourc or proprietary RDB engine that runs on Linux here) and people in the company realize they are actually getting close to real time results off of these servers, and start migrating applications over to them.

Since Microsoft is trying to move to a dbfs anyway, even more of the internal infrastructure starts getting moved over to Linux as the original Microsoft OS servers are relieved of the duties that they were originally tasked with.

Marketing comes along and asks how the new Windows 2K+3 is going, and IT is able to say with a straight face:

"We were able to consolidate the entire campus server farm down to a single system runing Win2k+3. And since no-one in house is actually using it, response time and recovery from failures has become a non-issue. We are saving millions of dollars every year because the quiet migration to an all Linux infrastructure has reduced the actual demand for systems to the point that we have been able to reduce our electrical usage by shutting down systems and reducing the demands on the cooling systems significantly. Our phone support teams are somewhat confused as they are getting calls about server issues that they have never experienced, however our developers have been able to get Win2k+3 running on a VMWare image under Linux and we have been able to simulate the issues that customers have been experiencing, without actually loosing any data or having any significant down time."

Marketing, "Huh?".

Ok, it's not likely to happen, but we can fantasize.

-Rusty