Slashdot Mirror
Ask Microsoft's Linux Lab Manager
Microsoft Linux Lab Manager Bill Hilf has been mentioned on Slashdot before, not to mention (as you might expect) on Microsoft Watch. His latest high profile coworker, Daniel Robbins, has also gotten a bit of Slashdot attention. Got any questions for Bill he hasn't already answered elsewhere? Post them below (one per post, please). We'll send him 10 - 12 of the highest-moderated ones and post his answers next Monday.
I'm somewhat uncomfortable with these interviews since they completely fall in line with PR strategy to shape opinion with the "slashdot crowd". Who initiates these interviews anyway?
-_-
Bill, What's your favourite type of First Post Troll?
What kind of impact is microsoft planning on making in the open source market in the next few years?
Behold, another webcomic!
How are you not a paradox or an oxymoron?
Dear Mr. Hilf - Surely by now you have to have been accused of helping Microsoft try to exterminate Linux. How do you respond to such accusations?
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
How do you sleep at night? ;-)
How does Microsoft internally deal with Open Standards and Open Document Formats?
I suppose more generally: In your testing is it solely relegated to Linux in the Server role, or do you address End-User issues as well
I'd like to step aside from all the hardware and software questions people are going to throw at you and focus on a more tangible topic: footware. When someone like yourselves accept a job stomping on baby ducks all day, do you invest in new boots, or do you just come to work in whatever old shoes you have in your closet?
Appreciatively,
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
No doubt one of the activities of microsoft's linux lab is testing the security of linux.
My question is this: if you find a security vulnerability in linux, do you inform the linux community about it?
Does it run linux?
Starsucks
How do you sleep at night knowing that you've traded all that's good in the world for thirty pieces of silver?
You know you're going to lose, right?
Get your own free personal location tracker
If you could choose any mouse to use with your Linux Lab, would you be interested in one with a revolutionary Scroll Ball and touch-sensitive technology concealed under a seamless top shell, to give the programability of a four-button mouse in a single-button design?
What is your opinion on open source?
computerdude33's stuff: My blog of wonder.
Bill works for Microsofts Astroturfing lab.
Oh no... it's the future.
I just went through integrating a linux server on the Windows 2003 Active Directory network here, and though it took some commandline work and messing with pam.d and samba, it wasn't actually that hard to get it joined up to the domain. Now everyone who has a login and password can login locally, as well as via SSH/sftp and jabber.
I'm glad that Microsoft is letting linux/unix machines integrate at least somewhat, but it would please me to no end to see Microsoft extending their existing Unix services for Windows servers. I know that unix services exist for Windows servers, but we just haven't needed to install them yet (no need for LDAP at this point).
P.S. I hope they keep you around for a while!
What exactly are your intentions with Linux (considering that Linux is one of your main rivals)?
"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral universe within." - Albert Einstein
you know, just to see if he knows.
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
What are your marching orders for the Linux lab? (are you looking at interoperability with Windows - or is there something else on the agenda?)
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
Do you like `em big and bouncy? Or a medium sized handful? Or like a grape?
We've heard a lot about MS having a lower TCO etc., and who knows it may even be true in some cases, but does Microsoft realise that the reason some of us is on Linux is for the "Free as in Freedom" part? This may matter not to the PHBs, but some of the Linux users MS is trying to court such as HPC consist of engineers and scientists who operate things like particle accelerators and are unfazed by the "complexity" of Linux and appreciate the freedom to be able to customise it to their needs? Can Microsoft ever be as liberal with their operating system as Linux developers are with Linux?
sometimes the responses of people like him help the rest of us weedout the malcontents who are a big disservice to the /. community.
/. by editing your user preferences.
A lot of what is rated insightful/informative here sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. It can be hard to distinquish between agenda and fact.
I would love to see even more of these interviews. Finally you can elect to not see these on
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Did anyone else read that and think, 'Microsoft Linux' in the same way as you read 'RedHat Linux' or 'Suse Linux'??
what are your thoughts on linux and how do you think microsoft will work linux into its strategy?
Doesn't working at MS isolate you somewhat from the OSS community? What do you do to keep your OSS perspective and skills current?
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
When they implanted the control interface plugs into your spine and the installed the face-mounted laser?
What do you think of Apple's new multi-button mouse, "Mighty Mouse?" Do you think this will lure more users away from Windows?
Do you use Linux?
I saw this at the bottom of the Slashdot page. The taco reference worries me, but I will ask this question anyhow:
"Were these parsnips CORRECTLY MARINATED in TACO SAUCE?"
From a purely technical, professional standpoint(and non partisan. My question as well as your answer ;-)) have there been any features that you guys have come across in Linux that you have thought would be nice to have in a Microsoft OS? Something that more than one person has mentioned, sort of a "Hey, this is interesting, Windows should have something like this(do something like this, have this capability, thingie...).".
Thanks,
Dimes
How much do souls go for nowadays, and is it a lump sum payment, or in installments?
What do you see as Linux's primary contribution to the industry?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
There have been tons of studies by MS-funded companies (like Gartner) claiming that Windows beats Linux in all sorts of ways, but the open source community is always quick to show that they're extremely biased. Would you trust or support any studies comparing Microsoft to Linux if they were done by Red Hat-funded (or funded by any other Linux supporters) companies to level the playing field?
Maybe I can ask him how to get my wireless card working in Linux on my laptop?
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Are there any plans to have Microsoft Server technologies such as Exchange Server available for linux?
Mr. Hilf:
Does Microsoft intend on making Windows capable of running native Linux ELF binaries now or in the future? I assume the MS has no intention to help out WINE with making Windows binaries compatible but I'm curious as to whether support for the other way around will become a reality.
While Windows does have many advantages over Linux, I still find that Linux has many good nich areas where Microsoft can't and shouldn't compete in, such as rapid development of appliance like solutions, where the case of finding a low end box (In my case usually Sun Sparc Classics) and downloading a version of Linux and configuring it for headless task(s). This is extremely affordable to my clients in the short and long term. So the question is why isn't Microsoft working harder to make tools that allow Linux to better communicate with Windows? When there is an issue of poor communication between Linux and Windows I usually need to configure Windows to communicate with the Linux box better, which may or may not work 100% and because it is running on Windows it makes Windows look bad. Even if Microsoft released some closed source or Shared source code that would allow better communication between the two platforms would make my job and my clients lives much easer and affordable.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
When will MS Word finally get with the times and have a fully-featured standards-compliant Lisp interperter?!!!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
What distributions and software programs are being used at this Linux Lab?
Failing that: How much attention do you pay to minor distributions (i.e. not Red Hat, Debian, SuSe and Mandrake)? How do they compare, in your hands? What works and doesn't work?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
See if you can answer the following without the usual PR-let's-find-a-way-to-avoid-or-reformulate -the-question spin? Here's the question:
If Microsoft believes that it can win by innovating and playing fair, why don't they release network file formats (SMB) and Office file protocols with a BSD-compatible license so that I can access and use that data with any application I choose? And no, the recent "opening" of their office file formats is not enough as its license is completely incompatible with its major competitor, OpenOffice.org.
The day that Microsoft demonstrates that it is not trying to hold the data of my organization at ransom is the day that we will begin considering its products again.
Pragmatism as an ideology is not particularly pragmatic in the long term. Keep it in mind when you dismiss Free Software
lol, what?
Being a jedi in the service of the emperor?
I'm wondering what Microsoft's policy on this is, I do not expect Microsoft to start contributing to Linux any time soon, but can an employee do it on his own spare time? Do you risk beeing fired if you file a bugreport or send in a patch?
A computer is a tool, but I am not. I use Linux
Are you in some way responsible for the (sometimes ridiculus) anti-Linux ammunition Balmer fires at everyone who didn't ask?
How do you handle immature zealots that believe your job involves backstabbing the open source community (like many questions here... hopefully none of which actually get modded high enough for you to have to deal with)?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
If Windows is truely "the ultimate secure and user friendly OS", as Microsoft has repeatedly claim, why do they need a Linux lab at all? Surely if Windows if as truely magical as many claim, Linux would be dead already.
I like muppets.
Basically by working on interpolating with Linux, you are also working on creating software that better complies with open standards. Bill Gates has often preached a closed source model, most famously his point counter point letter against open source. It is almost certain that you will be making it easier for your competition gain an edge. Which goes against the grain of every policy and business practice Microsoft has employed since its conception. What about today's market leads you to believe this is a good move for Microsoft?
Can I add Tex support to that request?
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Is there any chance Microsoft may go a similar route as Apple has with OSX, by making Windows just a Desktop Environment built on top of Linux or BSD?
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
Can i have a job?! Im at UofToronto and so very sick of working at the factory... Justin justin.hunt (AT) utoronto(dot)ca
Given that MS is now apparently messing about with Linux, does it have any plans to give something back to the community? For example a GPL-compliant license to use the standards, interfaces and formats required to fully interoperate with MS products. If not, how does MS justify this anticompetitive behaviour?
For the love of God, please learn to spell "ridiculous"!!!
Are there any plans to improve cross-compatibility between the linux and windows filesystems. Especially as embedded linux NAS devices become more popular in the consumer realm the availability of native support for ntfs in linux or ext3 in windows is more desirable.
What cool toys (like a Microsoft Office build for linux) do you get to see that will never be released to the public?
You say
The subject says it all (mostly).
One of the primary reasons Linux is somewhat inferior to commerical offierings when considered as a general-purpose dektop operating system is that there is a lack of a single guiding human interface standard for the various groups to work toward. Companies such as Apple Computer and Microsoft have invested large amounts of money in human interface studies, and although much of this information has been made readily accessible to the public, it would appear that very little of that information has been put to good use by F/OSS developers.
With Apple using the BSD branch of software as it's operating system core, do you see a future for a Microsoft-branded Linux distribution, using a Microsoft-developed HCI design?
Though there is a large amount of enmity in the F/OSS community toward Microsoft, it cannot be denied that Microsoft's development methods are demonstrably capable of producing quality software. Could Microsoft serve as a catalyst for consolidation within the community, while remaining true to the F/OSS philosophy? Could such a strategy be profitable for Microsoft?
Puh-lease.
I'd be more interested in an interview with a pr0n king (at least they make no bones that a lot of the stuff you're looking at is fake, thanks to Dr. Schulnick and DuPont).
Is one of your projects to assist in analyzing Samba source code to help coworkers better understand the SMB protocol?
(Shameless, I know...)
"Truth is not decided by majority vote" consensus gentium -- Norman Geisler
I know you aren't able to comment on any specific actions that are or might be taken, but as a general philosophy question at Microsoft - are patents seen as a defensive measure only, or are they seen as being useful offensively against competitors and open source developers?
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
Have you ever managed to get any of the big shots (for example, Gates) to sit down and try Linux for a few minutes? If so, what did they say? If not, why not? Did they have an allergic reaction and try to run away from you, or have you not asked?
I think it would be interesting to hear the opinions of people at Microsoft who actually have tried Linux (with KDE, OpenOffice, Firefox, etc.), versus the standard "Linux is evil" public relations line.
Will Microsoft Office (in the future) implement the ability read and write documents in the Open Document Format? If not, why?
Since you work with Linux, you must be aware of the interoperability issues between Linux and Windows, such as smb/cifs. What is Microsoft planning to do about these issues? A standard Linux distribution can't afford to pay for licenses.
CDE open sourced! https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/
How would you rank Microsoft's interoperability with Linux? How has the Linux Lab helped bridge the Windows/Linux worlds? I still find that Microsoft is unwilling to support open standards.
Do you ever get the feeling that the existence of your lab is just a public relations item for Microsoft, a hollow facade of cross-platform friendliness which-- while you of course may really mean or enjoy what you are doing-- Microsoft itself never intends to bring to anything, listen to the results of, or go anywhere with?
If so, how do you deal with this?
I've noticed that Longhorn/Vista Beta uses the same DOS command line that appeared in previous versions. Are there any plans to implement a Unix/Linux command line to replace/augment the current offering?
Microsoft has long offered Services for Unix free for download to provide a unix-like environment on Windows. I've seen rumors and speculation that SFU will be included by default in Windows Vista, with some GPL'd portions replaced or rewritten to maintain compliance. If it's true, what level of functionality and compatibility can we expect?
I cannot imagine the company is stupid enough not to see the writing on the wall regarding Linux. Among my colleagues and hardcore MS people, we all expect MS to embrace Linux with the same fervor that they eventually embraced the Internet, but are just waiting until the very last minute to make sure it's something that has to be done. Tell it to me straight, do you think this will happen? Otherwise, how can you explain the shifting away from the OS regarding the "Office System" and .NET and whatnot? We all look at this as Microsoft just buying time against competitors by denying Linux as long as possible.
OpenOffice.org, when will you change your license so I can use your product with MS's open office formats? I really like your product, but since your license is completely incompatible with MS's license and all my data is in MS already I have to stick with MS. As the product with smaller share shouldn't you work to interact in a friendly manner with the established market leading products in the same field?
What does Bill Gates dick taste like?
Dear Mr. Hilf,
I would like to know when you plan on converting the remaining Windows servers at Microsofts' facility, to Linux.
Kind regards,
--
SenFo
My lame blog.
What is a typical working day for you?
I am curious just how well you have the systems in you lab integrated and interoperating. Are you pushing the envelope of what is possible? Are you potentially even discovering new things that are possible integration wise.
For example I have a domain setup where there is a Microsoft Box acting as the Domain controller for the AD (and as PDC emulator). Several Linux boxes are acting as member servers. Serveral windows boxes act as member servers. DNS/DDNS is setup on both the Windows AD DC, and on a Linux Box using bind, with full resource record exchange. Wins is also available again on both a the Windows AD DC and through record exchange on a linux box. The Linux machines users are all AD user accounts they hold no logins other than the root user.
Are you folks playing with stuff like that? Perhaps maybe even documenting things like that, or even finding ways to make such things easier for people who ar enot like us and create things like this playing "because we can"...?
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
My biggest complaint with MS isn't that it's code is closed source (I'm a SysAdmin, not a developer), but that it doesn't play well with other open standards. How concerned are you in your position with interoperability and adherence to open standards? Has their been any change at MS regarding this? Thanks.
I come from a multi-platform world (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Unix, etc.) and was wondering what Microsoft's long-term interoperability plans are. When Windows NT 4.0 first came out, File & Print Services for NetWare and Services for Macintosh were very useful tools for getting NT servers into the building. These tools still exist, but I just want to know if Microsoft plans to open up even more given that there's even more interconnections between systems now than there was in 1996. Windows Server 2003 may be a great OS, but it's not the only one in use for most places.
Basically, what can we expect in the way of Unix/Linux integration tools for the future?
being a minion for Pure Evil. Good bennies?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Okay,
So, you've got a decade working with open source, you joined the dark side, where you're now helping them understand open source, presumably so they can destroy it, and you want to "build bridges" with the community?
That don't impress me much (bah bah du-wap)!
Will Microsoft invest any effort in porting their development tools (Visual Studio) to Mac?!
Where do you want to go today?
It seems that MS is moving toward XML and open office standards. Is it likely that MS will begin to offer software stacks that run and are supported on Linux? For enterprise, for consumers?
Have you ever wanted to pull Bill Gates aside, and discreetly inquire why someone with more money than God has such a shitty haircut?
Steve Ballmer seems to sweat a lot, especially while dancing; Do you think he has to sleep on a sponge?
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
Are you guys looking for a new mascot? I'm real cheap. A couple pounds of fish a day, water, a place to take a swim and a warm place to take a private dump. That's all I need. A small stipend so I can buy a penguin whore on the weekends. Oh, and all the cigs I can smoke. Camel Unfiltered. I'll spew whatever lies and horsepuckey you want to put in my mouth. Just lube me well and I'll bend over for whatever technopropaganda you dream up. I can offer- shit! Linus! You fool! Don't fire that thing in here! NO! ARGH! HE HIT THE TRIPLE MOCHA CHOCOMINT LATTE TANK! IT'S ALL OVER ME. IT BURNS! OH GOD IT BUUURRRNNNS!
I would imagine it would be something like, "we want you to keep us aware of any advantages linux seems to have" or "we want you to find flaws our marketing machine can use" or (i wish but doubt) "we want to find ways to integrate better" or "we want to identify opportunties to join the world in creating free software". Just wondering what the official role is, and if you can tell us, what the actual outcome so far has been.
-Lod
So it seems to me that this "Linux Lab" of yours is a conflict of interest for MS. Why did MS choose you to run this lab? Was it something in your background that makes you pro-Microsoft or pro-Linux?
Is the function of the Microsoft Linux Labs to make Windows software and platform compatible with Linux and F/OSS or to make them only compatible if Windows platform user's buy more licensed software from Microsoft? That is to say, is making F/OSS software more transparent to Microsoft managers, a manner to create interoperability, or to capture it in a licensed group of code?
With all the catching up that Microsoft is trying to do with other software groups lately, is the Linux Lab purposed for any reverse engineering reasons?
Do you have any directive to ensure that F/OSS code doesn't end up in Microsoft software? If not, who at Microsoft does?
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Only an immature zealot would assume Microsoft only intends to work with them in order to backstab them later, the same way Microsoft did with IBM, Apple, Sendo...
Expanding:
One of the supposed big advantages with OSS development is that it brings together large numbers of developers capable of cooperating in a relatively distributed manner, with little in the way of central coordination - a new feature can be implemented in a local fork, and survive globaly on it's merits.
The more specific question arises: "To what extent can such a collaborative approach can be beneficial among a large pool of potential developers who's code can be open to one another, but closed externally, such as within MS?" (The hidden assumption being that OSS network effects grow logarithmically with the size of the network of collaborators, and thus provide little incremental advantage once the pool is beyond a certain size).
If this submission is modded sufficiently high, either question can be answered (the general or specific).
You could've hired me.
Favorite Linux and why?
what's your favorite commercial and non-commercial Linux distro and why? And if I could sneak in an extra question, do you have *BSD and OSX in your lab?
me doogiee bits if Bill Gatess leg...
One of the common problem among all operating systems is availability and stability of hardware drivers.
Do you think Microsoft would be interested in the creation of open driver standards and open API's for hardware?
This would in effect make a broader range of hardware more like commodity DRAM, commodity flash memory, commodity CDROMs, etc. Right now at the top of my annoyance list is wireless ethernet adapters. They are a pain no matter what operating system I run.
Raydude
Do people on the Microsoft campus point and wisper when you walk by?
Is Microsoft searching for new patentable ideas in existing Linux Software?
I've heard of MILF's. What a HILF? Hackers I'd Like To Forget?
I often find old office documents that do not open in newer versions... How does microsoft deal with this problem internally?
For example, in the Lindows case, why don't you take the same actitude towards the name of our system, and call it GNU or GNU/Linux, which is it's correct name, instead of Linux, which is a disrispect of all the work the GNU comunity has done?, If i called your system "Kernel32.dll" instead of Windows, you would get mad at me. The same happends to me when you call my system Linux instead of GNU.
WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
Do you plan to publicly document the existing Word and Excel binary formats so anyone can read / write to them? (Without having to pay royalties, that is). And more important, why don't you people commit yourselves to adopt the OASIS OpenDocument format instead of your proprietary (even if open) ones? A clear, straight answer (not "because my boss said so") would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Does Microsoft see Linux as competition primarily in the server market or also in the end-user market?
Will MS development ever go in the direction that open source is taking, like perhaps a CVS type of public release every so often?
What was your opinion of Windows and Microsoft before you joined the company? After?
Do you feel any pressure to play down Linux's strengths internally? Externally?
How would you personally feel if Windows achieved total market domination, extinguishing Linux?
1. How can you work for such a soulless company?
2. Is it really true that they give you free soda?
Personally, I miss the tab autocompletion in most shells. The tab autocompletion in the Win XP shell seems primitive by comparison:
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
My question is this: if you find a security vulnerability in linux, do you inform the linux community about it?
Yes, we immediately publish Linux vulnerabilities in our marketting literature and immediately distribute this literature widely to IT decision makers and other professionals.
Why doesn't Microsoft scrap the current Windows kernel and write a completely new one instead of trying to add on to an existing kernel? I know they do this for backward compatibility, but they have the source for all of their operating systems so they could write extremely efficient/fast emulators that would run on their new kernel (presumably a faster, more securer, and stable kernel). Microsoft would also want to keep a similar interface, which could be easily done with a new kernel.
If you use Gentoo, how does it affect you?
There must be an internal conflict between Microsoft's various apps groups, and their OS groups, with respect to Linux. Apps must recognize Linux is a growing platform for which they can sell products, especially in the server space. But obviously to the OS groups Linux is a competitor. The OS groups are clearly winning this one so far...why?
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Which platform do you find most secure, Linux or MS Windows?
I recall hearing from people who have worked at Microsoft who have had ideas on what can be done to improve products. What they mentioned was that there is very much bureaucratic red tape that they must go through in order for their ideas to be considered. Perhaps some people at Microsoft may take your input seriously. But considering the many public statements that they have made regarding open source software, do you believe that you will have much impact on Microsoft's overall strategy for dealing with open source software?
That was my first thought too. As a followup, perhaps we could ask:
Q: What does 30 pieces of silver buy, these days?
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
no
Do you like grapefruit?
How do you justify the quantity of patents,frivolous to ALL observers except to MS employees and groupies, that may affect Linux directly if MS ever decides to use litigation and it army of lawyers to "shut down" all free (as in freedom free software) competition? Simply judging from Microsoft's actions in the past, its propensity towards litigating financially weaker companies out of existence, and its monopolistic practices, do you seriously believe that the Linux community will believe anything you say, especially that chestnut about Microsoft patenting everything under the sun simply to protect itself?
Rien n'est plus beau que le creux du 0.
Actually, those are penguins, not ducks.
If he did use it, what distro and when? If he didn't how can he criticize it?
Was the pie that you stuck your face into (or someone smashed the pie into your face) too sweet or was it delicious for a quick snack?
What does your Credit Report look like?
What is the best OS in your opinion. Windows or Linux? If Windows the best, why are you working with Linux. If Linux the best, why are you working for Microsoft?
Microsoft have been a target of a fair amount of hate from the linux and geek communities (see the rest of this thread for examples). Do you think microsoft deserve such hatred and how does it affect the people working at microsoft. For example does being hated by the geek community at large affect morale.
Have you been exposed to the idea that software should be free (as in freedom) while using Free Software?. What do you think, should users have freedom or not?
If you could choose any mouse to use with your Linux Lab, would you be interested in one with a revolutionary Scroll Ball and touch-sensitive technology concealed under a seamless top shell, to give the programability of a four-button mouse in a single-button design?
Perhaps you are too young to remember but trackballs inspired mice with scroll balls years, decades ?, ago. This is not an Apple innovation. Neither is many programmable buttons. What is new about the Apple mouse is the look and feel, not the functionality. With respect to mice, this is a rare area where Apple is playing catchup to Microsoft. What a weak troll you offer. If the future try not to be such an obvious kool-aid swiller. That said, I will buy this new Apple mouse for my Mini immediately, today if the local Apple store has them in stock.
Aren't you embarrassed and ashamed to work for a company that has been found guilty of criminal behavior in a court of law?
How is your lab organized? How have you divided your linux based boxes, along with your windows boxes in the lab in order to achieve an efficient environment? Can you give us a breakdown of the different tasks in the lab and how much linux / windows muscle has been dedicated to these tasks?
_Vishal www.squad9.com
Having been in IT a looong time, I'm pretty familiar with all of the major players.
All of them have their +'s and -'s, but one of my biggest gripes about Microsoft is that instead of trying to leverage OSS, they continually try to crush or marginalize it. Over time I find myself less and less likely to consider a Microsoft solution because I know that over time Microsoft will try and make that solution less interoperable with all of my other solutions.
Microsoft would sell more software to me if I could be sure that they are NOT going to try and lock out all of my other platforms going forward.
Given your current position, does it look as if Microsoft will continue to try and marginalize OSS, or will they do an about face and work to try and ensure ongoing interoperability?
Eschew Obfuscation
Do Microsoft employees stab the Tux mascot on your desk while you go get a coffee?
Mr. Hilf, as it relates to MS's dabling with Linux and MS's shrinking share of the market, how do you explain the growing troubles MS has had, starting in the past with the Justice Department, foreign lawsuites, anti-MS backlash from companies and users, not to mention the mostely great press they get (not)?
I will gladly loose all of life's battles.. in order to win the war..
I've been using a Linux desktop for several years now. I develop software for Unix and Linux based systems. All of the tools I use are either open source, or have documented APIs.
Why would I ever consider, let alone recomend, a Microsoft product?
What is Microsoft's general position on the open-source projects that are porting .NET to Linux (and other platforms)? Are there any plans to restrict parts of the .NET framework (e.g. WinForms) from being ported?
.NET and would like to hear something reassuring from Microsoft that they won't hinder in any way the development and use of .NET on other platforms. We all know what happened to DR.DOS...
Basically, I'm a fan of
What distros is MS running in their lab?
Are you encouraging the adoption of GNU GPL licensing at Microsoft? If not, why not?
Since he is a Terran, I am sure Microsoft keeps a handfull of firebats handly to inflict damage thru the zealot's shields with ease. Being immature their damage/shields won't be too upgraded...
Hell, rich as Microsoft is they probably will have some fully loaded seige tanks and fleet of battlecruisers just in case.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
These days, it seems that other than Balmer and Gates, anybody who is competent stays for short terms at MS. So where will you go in a year?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Sorry, just couldn't help it :D
In your opinion, what could the Linux community do to increase the popularity of Linux on the desktop?
What, if any, suggestions would you give the linux development community for improving their OS and Applications?
Do you believe there is anything to be learned by the development process that goes on in the open-source community? What can the open-source community learn and actually implement, given the structure of the community, from the development process at a place like MS? (If this is considered two questions, please answer the latter)
---
eMusic.com is where it's at.
Are you limiting your future potential to develop code for Microsoft by studying linux code so closely?
Inversely, does one who studies the code for Windows limit their future potential to develop open source code?
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
You bash Microsoft on the Usenet? Or is there a company policy against it?
Would Microsoft ever consider releasing a unix-based operating system? Or even linux distro?
-DB-
E-mail is like a prison: a prison with no walls... and no toilet. -Strong Bad
What is it like to work for the dark lord? ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
What are the areas of interoperability that you are targeting in your research of Linux? What Linux technologies are you most interested in interoperating with from a business viability model perspective?
Is Microsoft working to allow the documents created by the next version of Microsoft Office to be usable across OSes? Primarily, will it be simple for an open source program (ie OpenOffice) to read and write documents that will be usable with Microsoft Office?
One of the biggest gripes about Open Office that Microsoft claimed is poor support for MS Office documents. When will MS Office start supporting Open Office documents?
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
Does the atmosphere or culture of the Linux lab differ in any relevant way from the other labs on the MS campus?
(So, for example, does it draw a different sort of employee or feature more internal/external collaboration (or less)?)
"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under." - H.L. Mencken
I could ask you if you liked Linux or not, and what about Linux you liked. But you sure have been asked this questions a hundred times. So, what I'm going to ask insthead is:
Would you be able to tell us if you liked Linux better than Windows in some area?
What does Microsoft gain from working with Linux? Or to put it another way, how does your job add value to the company?
My impression is that the Linux lab is about developing some in-house expertise in open source so that the company will have people who understand a trend that looks like it will probably become more important as time goes on. Is that a reasonable take?
The other popular conceptions of the lab, I think, are that it's somehow aimed at disrupting linux (which I don't believe, if only because it probably wouldn't work), or that it's about fostering interoperability between open source and MS products. This last explanation is hard to buy into wholeheeartedly because it doesn't seem like a rational strategy for MS.
Can you give us a description of what they want you to accomplish that will dispell some of the paranoia, and that will be pluasible to someone who believes that MS is looking out for #1?
Why did you feel the need to put 'bills' in quotes like that?
Do you doubt the existence of bills?
Do you believe in bills, but don't believe that we whould pay our creditors what we agreed to pay them?
If you don't pay bills, do you just mooch off your parents, or sponge off people that claim to be your friends (until they get sick of you) or just steal stuff (like electricity, water) and hope the suppliers never notice that they aren't getting paid?
"No, no, my head contains brains, just like yours."
emerge sync; emerge -u world;etc-update.
:-)
What is the equivelant in windows?
Answer: Write all documents to CD. Buy new computer with new Windows. Reinstall all documents from CD.
Nice and simple, and considering th $699 SCO Linux license it's much cheaper
[PS If you're American and don't understand this kind of humour please don't mod this down.]
Supposing a hypothetical situation (apart from the fact that it could be already there):
A new GNU/Linux player arrives at the market that delivers a top-notch (open-sourced) desktop solution for GNU/Linux in direct competition to Microsoft's Windows.
Given a predefined set of options, what would be your choice, and why would you choose it:
A. I'll put some of my (teams) time in carefully reviewing the features it delivers and document that ; a chapter in my confidential monthly report, nothing more.
B. I stop what I'm doing, crank up my human-resources and put my complete team on documenting all the ins-and-outs of the sourcecode and the user interface design. I'll dedicate a complete confidential monthly report to it.
C. I put some of my (teams) time in getting together with the developers that made the product, and try to learn the product better by giving advice to the developers on how to improve their product.
D. This is not in my job description, I will not look into that product at all.
Thanks.
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
I know Microsoft has set up a division specifically intended to focus on Linux and other FOSS for strategic reasons. However, it is also accepted knowledge that Microsoft would rather not have something like Linux to offer competition. How is the work environment for you and the others in your department (i.e. are you received as colleagues even in upper level management, or do you guys have to be fenced to keep the rest of the campus from burning you at the stake, or do people not even care)? Furthermore, are there any restrictions that have been put into place to prevent interaction with either of the FOSS or Windows communities?
Being so close to the windows and Linux internals; what do you see are the major bridges that need to be built in order for windows and Linux to communicate more efficiently?
This SIG pulled due to lack of funding. (This damn war is costing too much!)
My question:
Do you eat babies?
What kind of babies?
Will there be M$ Linux?
Does Billie G. like Pies?
Did you get that thing... I sent you?
When you find obvious lies in the Get The Facts material, how proactive are you at correcting them?
More directly: I haven't noticed any corrections or retractions about Get The Facts FUD from your lab yet. Why not?
do you suck microsoft cock while playing with the balls or tickling the chode?
why not make linux open source?
From what I understand, Office is one of Microsoft's biggest revenue sources. Additionally, projects such as CrossOver have shown that it can be profitable to enable Linux to run MS Office. Are you investigating the possibility of releasing products such as Office for Linux?
Have your testers found how to input the activation # in those boxes?
Do you ever test Microsofts end user and server applications under wine to see if it's possible to extend Microsofts software line off of Windows and onto other platforms?
How well do you think that most project managers at Microsoft understand how the open source community works?
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
I wonder what are your feelings going to be, when free software becomes technically superior to proprietary applications and the free sofware movement is destroyed by Microsoft's strategy(software patents + DMCA + Treacherous Computing). Microsoft has absolutely no chance to fairly compete with free software, because free software proved so many times to have a superior development model(open source, as you call it). If you don't believe me, maybe you could explain why such a great company as Microsoft is pushing software patents and other absurd things like that(even though nobody else wants them) ? I can offer a possible answer: compare the evolution of software quality on the Microsoft Windows(and other proprietary software) platform and the evolution of software quality on GNU(and other free software). Apply the formula and make an estimation about what could happen in 10 years time. So, in order to keep your monopoly standing and money flowing, you "invent" wonderful technologies(Trusted Computing for example, but I am sure you are very talented at coming up with other brilliant ideas). I want you out of my life, honestly. I don't want Microsoft software on the computers in public schools(which we, the citizens, pay for, btw.). I don't want to receive .doc attachments anymore. Go away!
With regards to Open Source Software, Microsoft does not speak with one voice. Some at Microsoft say that Microsoft wants to work with the OSS community, while others when they speak propagate falsehoods about Open Source. It seems like people at Microsoft are working at cross purposes. Is there an official stance on dealing with Open Source and the community, and how is Microsoft trying to speak with only one voice?
Since the source of linux is freely available, microsoft have the opportunity to easily add compatibility for their software into the kernel. I say easily, but rather I mean, they have the money and the research staff to acheive it.
WIll we be seeing a microsoft Linux distribution in the next few years? Or perhaps a full linux layer available for windows as an option.
And what exactly did MS license from SCO?
3 things about computers: they're alive, they're self-aware, and they hate your guts.
How do you feel about the amount of power corporations like Microsoft have gotten in the past few decades? With industry-standard non-compete contracts dictating the terms in which employees can procure employment [even after there relationship with their previous employer has ended (Kai-Fu Lee)], and software patents allowing science and mathematics to be locked in company coffers, don't you think corporate America is getting a little too much control over American life?
Lets make sure we understand the context here; we are living in a country where the Surpreme Court has ruled that a larger company can use immenent domain to grab the land of a smaller company, or private individual (assuming there is potential for more tax revenue as a result).
Help me be a little less afraid of Microsoft.
Why stick up for big business?
Its fairly obvious that Microsoft is trying to coopt the Linux development community without having to actually buy into any Linux philosophy (like open source and all the rest of it.)
He and Stallman are diametric opposites. Now he's trying to get out resources 'for nuttin' by posing, make that by having others pose as 'the good guys'.
I guess things in the Longhorn project are proving too difficult. Watching schedules slip and wosing functionality while increasing the bug count and vulnerabilities must be pretty disheartening.
Its getting difficult to keep turning over the same ground (Windows GUI) while having nothing really to offer.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
We each have our favorite flavor, what's yours?
...because "hacker" sounds way sexier than "code drone."
When Daniel Robbins sold his soul to you, did he also try to sell you to a tshirt from his, err I mean gentoo's, store?
The Television Wiki
Since the source of linux is freely available, microsoft have the opportunity to easily add compatibility for their software into the kernel. I say easily, but rather I mean, they have the money and the research staff to acheive it.
Will we be seeing a microsoft Linux distribution in the next few years? Or perhaps a full linux layer available for windows as an option.
I was trolling through the DOS - I mean CLI - commands on a Windows 2003 server just this morning and noticed the Qgrep.exe file with the mention of it being like the UNIX grep command. Is GNU/Linux a source for Microsoft's resurrection of the good, useful CLI utilities?
zenray
Have you been to the compound? If so, what was it like?
Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
Do you run a Linux workstation as your primary machine, or windows? And do you use IE, Firefox, or some other browser?
"What is the answer?" (Silence) "In that case, what is the question?" --Gertrude Stein
Do your developers/testers/whatevers have a choice of their own desktop/workstation OS, either as individuals or as teams? If so, do any of them choose Linux or another *nix as their primary system, or dual-boot? (This brings to mind the chapter of "Dealers Of Lightning" about the Xerox Parc team trying to buy a DEC, when Xerox owned SDS.)
*is run over by rotten tomatoes*
[PS If you're American and don't understand this kind of humour please don't mod this down.]
What if I'm European and I don't understand that kind of humor? May I mod you down now?
Damnit. Just posted. Can't mod now.
There's no place like
Title says it all. :)
windows?
Do you feel ashamed of your company at times? Do you have moments of doubt about your career choice? Are there things you'd like to see changed in the ways Microsoft acts? Corporate evils you hate, but must bear? Decisions you'd prevent if you were in charge?
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
As grid computing (Google, Oracle, etc) seems to be the more sensible solution as systems become cheaper and cheaper, do you think Microsoft will mate their software (their best product) with a clustered open source solution (much more reliable and secure)?
I know a lot of people love OWA (Outlook Web Acess) and I can imagine Microsoft providing a file/email server with site licenses for it's office products that all work over the net, with interoperability on par with programs like Google Maps.
Do you foresee Word for Web being served up on clustered Linux servers?
Where did you learn to dance like that?
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
one of the things i hate is how i cant access my home directory natively. yes i have a "dropbox" that is a 5 GB FAT32 partition that i can read/write from within linux, but since my machine is a dual boot box, i often have to reboot if i want to get certain data i forgot to put there. of course on linux i can read ntfs, not write, why not have some ability of at least reading ext2/3 from within windows itself? there is no real need to write, as linux can read the windows parititon no questions asked.
Let's moderate some absolutly inane and brainless questions to the top and encorage The operators (Taco et al) to send them on.
This will encorage Microsoft to underestimate us and perhaps continue the lame fud campaign rather than filing a large number of frivulos lawsuites and trying to do real damage.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
In what areas do you think Microsoft can play nice with Linux and still make more money?
Areas being: file system interoperability, opening document formats, software interoperability, etc.
Because we can all wish these things would happen but until it is shown to Bill that these things will actually make more money, they will not be implemented.
Why, exactly, should any of us believe a single thing that you say?
Seriously..when people like you post such obvious hackneyed anti-MS crap, does it ever occur to you how retarded you look?
Mike.
Mmmm......sacrelicious.
What is your vision for the future of Linux, and what legacy will you leave as your part in that future?
and, are you seeking to register any software patents in this space?
If you do have any patents, what are some of the more interesting ones, and in what areas (print services, taco management one-click-to-eat-a-taco s/w) are they in.
If you can't answer that, how many patent lawyers are on your team?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Ok... this is my question... i've always been curious about it:
"Where the hell did you find Ballmer????"
I know what his job title us, but what exactly is he directed to do? Is he hired in a defensive capacity, such as finding good parts of the Linux architecture and replicating it, or is he required to find ammunition (bugs, lack of functionality) to use against OSS?
And how is he received by the rest of Redmond?
What percentage of client marketshare would Linux need before Microsoft would port their applications to it? I ask this because, by my web logs, I currently have significantly more Linux clients than Macintosh clients.
The more I learn about science, the more my faith in God increases.
Is Microsoft looking at Linux for a place to find unpatended technology?
It seems to the onlooker that there are two camps at Microsoft, one that embraces Open Source, and one that doesn't. On the one hand, Ballmer comes out and says that the company can never support open source solutions, yet they have people like you to manage their Linux lab.
If Microsoft can never support open source solutions, how is it possible that a Linux lab would even exist in the first place?
Which brings me around to my question: What is Microsoft's real policy on Open Source software?
This signature has Super Cow Powers
Dear Mr. Hilf,
Why does it take Microsoft so long to release middleware/API's supporting standards, many being open with published specs, when customers ask for them? For example, the JDBC driver for MS SQL Server took around 1.5 years to be released and what about CSS2 support? After all, somehow, the OSS developers seem to be able to release such support far more quickly. Please don't say you believe in the "million monkeys with keyboards" rule.
Another question I have for you is how Microsoft determines what a business venture is worth? For instance, the WindowsCE productline has lost 100's of millions per quarter( (~$1billion)/yr ) for about 8 years and only recently is losing in the 10's of millions per quarter. Microsofts total lack of software for the market leading Palm( at the time, 5-8 years ago, >80% marketshare ) platform. The innovative ways you kept breaking compatibility with the Palm Desktop app and sync system showed that you REALLY wanted WindowsCE to be successful but after so many years and almost $10 billion in losses... BTW, shareholders probably want to know the answer to this question too.
Thank you for your time and if you are ever in my town, please feel free to not stop by anytime.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
will you ever convert from the darkside to the light?
Does MS see the cross platform adaptability of CFS/SMB as a continuing threat/problem, or is there an emerging acceptance of a mixed environment?
Also, how is your lab setup in respect to network browsing and domain controllers? Are the linux boxes joined to an AD domain controller and vice/versa, i.e. win boxes joined to a CFS/SMB "domain"?
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
How are you planning on destroying us and what steps can we take to prevent it.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Is it your job to research Linux and FOSS in general with the ultimate goal of margnializing it and pressing Microsoft's advantage?
For example, by examing the source code of various projects, you could find areas where FOSS products have, through reverse engineering, managed to become compatitable with Microsoft products. Then you could change the MS proprietary interface to break compatibility, and patent the technique of accessing the new interface.
This would shut out FOSS products that attempt to work with Microsoft products.
Is this your job description?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to integrate with Linux/FOSS products?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to explicitly and actively allow (or even encourage) Linux/FOSS products to integrate with Microsoft products?
Wouldn't such an embracing strategy undermine and mitigate the primary competitive advantage that Microsoft offers -- that of controlling a uniform development and distribution platform that is, for now, nearly ubiquitous?
How does researching Linux work toward protecting that competitive advantage of Microsoft in a way that is beneficial toward the Linux community?
Software Wars
And as a followup to th parent's question - when your lab finds areas in which Linux is better than Windows in areas like security and high end computing, is your lab allowed to tell the truth about it, or find ways to twist the facts?
From the Microsoft Watch interview:
Hilf says he spends a lot of time "making Linux more transparent to Microsoft managers." He does a lot of educating around the open-source development, testing, deployment and licensing models, he said.
So far, how is the reception of open-source models from Microsoft managers? Are they interested, skeptic...
Has Microsoft gained any ideas from Linux that have been incorporated into Windows? Not a copy and paste job of code but ideas that everyone has said, "If we could implement this..."?
Just curious!
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Notepad or Wordpad?
That is great. The best answer to my sig I have seen yet.
The one problem is: I still have to go and download each seperate package I want for windows: Gaim, Mozilla, Gimp, OO, Tex, Emacs, Vi, SSH, VNC.
That doesn't include other packages that I need to install from CD: Solidworks, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio.
(That is the list of software I have installed on the only windows computer I use)
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Have you noticed all the negetivity coming from Microsoft against Linux over the last few years? It seems like every time I turn around, there's somebody at Microsoft saying nasty things about Linux, the open source community, and the like.
Windows is a great operating system. It's the most widely used desktop system in the world. XP is generally a lot more usable than any of the Linux desktops, and the lirary of compatible software for Windows eclipses that of the library of software available for Linux.
So why all of the hate?
Do you guys really think of Linux as a threat?
It would seem to me that all of this talk about how terrible Linux is coming out of Microsoft has actually made the alternative system more popular.
Is there some brilliant strategy behind this that we should know about?
This signature has Super Cow Powers
Have you noticed that your name rhymes with 'MILF'? Has your wife pointed this out? Do you use this fact to get chicks? Is your wife a MILF? Do people in your office say things like "Hilf's got a MILF!", or "She's a MILF-Hilf!"?
What is the exact purpose of the Linux Lab ?
Over the last 10 years, UNIX system administrators have had to get used to the progression of Windows/NT in the corporate environment, sometimes having to jump through hoops to integrate the two environments (something that, frankly, Microsoft gets very little credit for, since almost all the solid integration technologies came from the Open Source side). Now it seems that Linux is playing the same game, and there's no doubt that it's not going away either.
So is the Linux Lab really an evaluation platform for Microsoft to evaluate Open Source, or (let's be honest) a marketing dissemination platform that will be used to "inform" customers of the advantages and disadvantages of Linux/Open Source ?
In case of the latter, is there an internal equivalent that really evaluates Linux and Open Source, in order to learn, integrate, and maybe build real bridges ?
Or is it, and will it always only be, about damage control ?
jk ;-)
When I read his name I had to go back and reread the sentence as that is what my first reaction was to his name in the article.
You gotta be kidding me.
But hey, the truth is often stranger than fiction.
Appropriate name for Microsoft's Linux guy.When did you become so enthralled by masochism that you decided to subject yourself to the /. crowd?
Hmmm witty sig or funny sig? Maybe elitest techy sig!
Would using Linux on Macs ib your deparetment really piss Bill.G off ?
what is very soft and also micro abt Bill?
Bill, which do you prefer and why?
Perhaps the most obvious, why the hell doesn't Microsoft grab the Linux market anyway? It's not like it's a risk. If it flops, they have windows, they have the market; if it rockets, windows dies, but they still have the market and at least we all benefit somehow from it.
Support my political activism on Patreon.
Two of the most used web development platforms on the planet are obviously shite, huh? An object data store? Wow, you're even too l33t for a crummy old RDBMS. You know, the standard used by everyone up to international conglomerates for storing data. Yup, just not cool to use anything standard and easy to back up.
And if you're not concerned about javascript you're not using it to its potential.
Basically, your situation is the same as the guys I met in Bethesda who worked for IBM. The entire building was divided by a glass wall. It had other problems too,like steel plates which made up the outer wall had been installed backward and were rusting way to much.
The glass walls were there to prevent any contact by the researchers working on publishing systems, jouraling file systems and all sorts of neat stuff on one side of the wall from 'infecting' the sales people who were still pushing OS 360.
What's the situation like in Redmond where you have to make sure that no infectious GPL code is even seen by any Microserfs?
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
In your opinion, can we ever expect to see a "Microsoft Linux" distribution or do you think the idea is too antithetical to the current MS corporate culture or business model?
Also, what do you think would need to change to see something like a "Microsoft Linux" distribution?
-Tom
Linux (and open source / free software in general) are one of the biggest success stories of recent times in the world of software, and one of the first not to come from Microsoft.
What lessons (if any) do you think that Microsoft could learn from Linux and other open source / free software?
Do you think that Microsoft is adaptable enough to be able to learn those lessons successfully?
Game dev and music blog
I've been writing some non-trivial VBA macros of late, and, if some of the personality leaking out of the Word binary is any indicator, integrating a Lisp interpreter would be a non-trivial undertaking, for a relatively small market.
MicroSoft doesn't have a lot of history in doing substantial projects for niche markets...
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
They should recycle all those "empty shoes" the Chinese dictatorship creates, thanks to Microsoft firewall (and reporting) software used to finger pro-democracy activists.
With clients like that, MS now falls somewhere between DeBeers and tobacco farmers.
Sure, this is mean to say about Microsoft... but it's not UN-TRUE, is it??
Anon, and proxied, as these posts ARE tracable back to individuals (you'll never get security jobs, kids).
Several Microsoft acquisitions were heavy *nix users...most notably, Hotmail. At one point, legend has it that Microsoft switched away from the *nix operating systems to it's own products for the Hotmail servers, then switched back due to problems. Is this true?
Overall, where (if at all) does Microsoft use Linux or BSD (besides the labs) for it's enterprise?
http://www.theopencd.org/
Open source software for Windows on a CD. Download the iso.
KTHX
Just between you and me, are you planning on going to work for google any time soon? I swear on my dead grandfather's life I won't tell a soul.
What's your viewpoint of a monolithic kernel vs microkernel? Don't you think from a research point of view, a l4 microkernel such as GNU Hurd would be much more fun to play with?
Microsoft's own internal documents (Halloween memo's, etc.) indicate that Microsoft intentionally confounds interoperability in order to promote it's own de-facto proprietary standards, and thereby it's hedgemony. This has been Microsoft's (very successful) business model for a very long time now.
Will Microsoft's culture ever change? Can you say, with a straight face, that Microsoft really wants to make interoperability with open standards a priority, and compete on the merits? Can you promise that Microsoft will never use it's patent portfolio to squash a potential competitor? Will Microsoft cease to back the highest-bidder land grab that the EU software patent lobby promotes? Can you deny that Microsoft provided any funds to the SCO fiasco? Will Microsoft openly publish any file formats and protocols not mandated by court settlements? Can you promise that Microsoft won't use DRM in conjunction with the DMCA to create the ultimate in proprietary formats - where reverse engineering is neither possible nor legal?
In short, why should the FOSS community (or any community, for that matter) consider Microsoft anything but an enemy?
Mr. Hilf, I have but one question: Where do babies come from?
OSS has its place in this world. Proprietary software has its place in this world, but I have a serious issue with data lock. For many of my clients, I have helped them dump MS and other systems that use proprietary data formats in favor of open standards (format) data. The cost savings and work flow improvement have always been positive and in many cases surprisingly large. They still have MS and other companies software, but without the data lock-in on their core/business data.
I am curious as to how MS plans to work with platforms based on open standards. My experience with the past feels like bait and switch. Microsoft has/has purchased some really great products. I would love to be able to tell someone MS has a great product, and it will not get in the way of future upgrades/migrations. Yet, most of what I have read tells me that they are headed in the other direction.
InnerWeb
Freud might say that Intelligent Design is religion's ID.
IIRC... Microsoft uses Solaris and/or BSD for their hotmail servers ever since they bought them out. How do you migrate that many users?
|-|0\/\/ 733t R U?
Hey, would you mind giving us a quick write-up on how you did this?
Join Tor today!
Your assumptions are incorrect and obviously based upon the same buzz words most CIOs use to make erroneous decisions regarding infrastructure.
Our Oracle DB requires special utilities and the care of a DBA to back it up and restore it 'properly'. If our DBA gets run over by a bus we are SOL. You can stop the database and backup all the files involved - but it is an ugly proposition not amenable to automation.
I have many gigabytes worth of data in a ZODB - it is one single file, that I can backup while the system is running, and I can do it easily using existing CLI tools. Restoration is simply bringing down the application, copying the backup file into place, then restart the application - a matter of seconds usually. It is as scalable as a conventional RDBMS without the overhead - and the structures stored in it can be defined on the fly with no table redesigns or other administrative and design overhead that gets in the way of delivering working applications to my customers. Object databases are the future of data storage and obviate the need for an RDBMS.
Additionally, the ZODB has the ability to roll-back all changes made from the last packing of the database. You could also couple it with a version control system (such as CVS) to further provide restorability of individual objects back to 0-day if you really needed that level of recall.
Finally, when you hold up javascript next to python - one looks like a cobbled together mess, and the other is elegant (I'll give you a hint - python is the elegant one). For maintainability and ease of programming (and not having to embed said program into my content) python wins hands down.
For what I do these tools function perfectly and make my job a breeze compared to the hassles I've lived through doing things the old 'standard' way. I've used the other tools with varying success (javascript, perl, RDBMSs, java, ASPDB etc.) - and was able to get more done and lower costs and maintenance overhead using the tools I described. This has nothing to do with 'cool' and everything to do with being effective on the job. Have you tried other things than what is standard operating practice? I don't know about you, but I am always trying to find better ways to do my job.
You might try it before you put it down out of hand.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
Mr. Hilf
I'm writing to ask for your advice since you seem to know about Linux. I was recently at a friends house, and he showed me his new Linux. It had a lot of interesting "features" like windows and firefox and tcpip. He even showed me dirty pictures with it.
My friend told me that he downloaded his Linux for free! He even showed me the web site. I think it was linuxtorrent.com. I freaked out! He's stealing form Linux! He told me that it was OK and that Linux is free, but I didn't believe him.
What should I do? My friend is stealing from Linux. A lot of people worked very hard to make Linux, and he's taking it without even saying thanks. I want him to stop, but I don't want him to go to jail! Please, help me Mr. Hilf, I don't know what to do?
will microsoft create a modern OS without a gui.
This would be usefull in enviroments that prohibit Open Source solutions.
What is the lab's favorite Linux distribution?
Furthermore, which distribution do they dislike the most?
Lindsay Blanton
RadioReference.com
In recent interviews, innovation is talked about quite a bit; specifically, Hilf mentioned a "lack of innovation" in the linux/OSS offerings in an interview a while back. What projects or technologies you are working on exemplify this innovation (over linux/OSS offerings specifically)?
Let's put it in more business-like terms:
What is Microsoft's current strategy on working with Linux?
a) avoiding (completely ignoring its existance)
b) accommodating (passively letting Linux have its way)
c) competing (assertively fighting Linux)
d) collaborating (assertively working with Linux so that both can succeed)
e) compromising (give and take...somewhere in between)
In order to gain and maintain its monopolies, Microsoft has found it necessary to regularly engage in illegal and unethical behavior.
Will Microsoft continue to do this in the future? If not, does this mean that Microsoft has abandoned its goal of maintining its monopolies and establishing new ones, or does it mean Miocrosoft thinks it could accomplish monopolistic goals through only legal, ethical behavior?
Can an unladen swallow really fly backwards at 24mph?
Did you have to have PR sign off on them? What about legal? Or marketing? And are your reposnses your own, or was this a group effort between you and others of your team?
What's it like to promote honesty in an environment where everyone's first impression of you is as "The Enemy?"
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
Not many people know, but there was once a UNIX version of Word, for those of us who did not care for WordPerfect. Any chance MS will dust off and release that product for Linux?
JB Fields jbfields3@gmail.com http://jaysmotorcycle.blogspot.com "Crossing the Canadian border, the customs guy asks
Since Bill Gates is active in the development part of MS Windows, how much cooperation is there between Bill Gates (who probably loves Windows as much as Linux does Linux) and the Linux group?
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Hi M. Hilf.
:"I am a non-Microsoft guy working at Microsoft"
A little intro first.
From the interview at Yahoo News
So my first question would be : How can you let Microsoft post on his website and accept some "unfair to competition" false reports in the get the facts campain?
I'll explain. You can see here the MS report about "Role Comparison Security Report: Database Server Role". And you can look at Secunia.com too see that MS SQL 2000 is rated Highly critical compare to MySql version 4 for example to less critical. All other numbers in the front page and everything in this report is base on FUD (and I'll add playing with numbers). I have another 1000 examples, but let's stay here. The report says that MSSQL is more secure by the way. Mabe it should be rename to the "Get the facts that we want you to see and nothing else".
Sorry for this long question, but i guess it is needed for less confusion.
Second question : So, should we trust the rating of Secunia or other Microsoft-sponsored study?
No sig for now.
Does you lab commonly engage in benchmarking?
I closely follow benchmarking reports comparing Linux to Windows, and often find that there are substantial differences within the environments being tested. For instance, in a commissioned report from 2004 (I can't find it atm), there was a comparison between Windows 2003 Server and a version of Red Hat from 1998.
The natural inclination is to think an older version of the OS was chosen for the sake of making Windows appear to be a more competitive product, but I was wondering what your take on this is.
M
I've been a C developer for a long time (before being hybernated for 20 years, apparently).
When I came back to life (life at normal speed I mean, not life at 0.000001x you get inside the hybernator) I installed Linux and I met Mono.
Apart of jokes, I would like to know what Microsoft thinks of Mono. I like it alot because it allows me to produce fairly portable code (I just need to recompile it) with an environment that is simple and _very_ productive (C# rocks). Do you think that Mono is mature for prime time? And do you think Mono/.NET has a future as "common ground" between Linux and Windows?
nbody2002:If you can read this you may be addicted to the internet
So you can:
play the many games that only work on Windows
use software which only runs on Windows (VirtualDub, for instance)
port your software to another platform (unless you're doing something very specialised and server-based, I bet Windows has at least a few occasional users - it seems to sneak in via laptops for instance)
use the fancier features of MSN messenger (GAIM doesn't support everything it can do, AFAIK)
use badly designed websites that only work in IE (yes, you should avoid these sites if you can)
Microsoft also make excellent input peripherals and a respectable games console (which you could also turn into a cheap linux based media centre).
I quit!
My original point is that your post had nothing to do with the discussion at all, and was just "Dude, I'm so much cooler than that."
.js file which runs through the document and creates event handlers for the items you need.
OO databases have been 'the future of data storage' for like 10 years with absolutely no market penetration.
My point about JavaScript is that you can embed a huge amount of application logic in there, providing a better user experience and reducing server load. If you know how to do it right it degrades gracefully, but then most people don't know how to do it right. Yes I'm sure Python is elegant, but having all your logic server side has a huge drawback to app usability, regardless of what language you use. You don't need to embed ANY javascript into your html document. Just link to an external
I had overlooked that Microsoft's word processor already carried around a whole bloated scripting language already! (Just one more suitable to their audience...)
As far as it being non-trivial, I thought I had read a paper once upon a time about Word being designed so that scripting languages could be easily plugged in with the appropriate COM/ Active */ .NET wrapper. So maybe that's not too crazy an idea -- just a useless one.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I hope this doesn't seem naive. I feel that there's a number of reasons, and MS has a differing stances on them all. So, I'm hoping for a rather complete answer.
Why does Microsoft care about Linux?
You have said you prefer discussion with "open source developers" as opposed to "open source zealots". My question is, why do an interview on Slashdot of all places?
Mr. Hilf,
I understand that you do a lot of comparative analysis of Windows and Linux, and then communitate with the Windows development teams, in hopes of improving Microsoft's product.
Can you give any specific examples of changes that have been made on the Windows side as a result of your work?
-stare_at_the_sun"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" -Jesus (John 14:6)
A lot of people have put a lot of time volunteering into projects with the goal of creating software than anyone can use, redistribute and modify (and that even your own company has used in order to build better products). While this might not seem a worthy goal for you, it has inspired *many*. Don't you have ethical issues working in a company that has the explicit goal of destroying these public goods (by means such as software patents, running misleading marketing and extending standards to make it difficult for this software to interoperate)?
Whats the deal with NTFS? Why not open it for better support on both ends?
[optikshell.com] My weblog / gathering of neat (read geek) stuff.
I've seen rumors and speculation that SFU will be included by default in Windows Vista,
I foresee a big international court case when my alma mater, Simon Fraser University (SFU) hears about this.
Talk about prior art, I remember writing OS when I was a student there.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Have you seen a lot of co-workers go to Google lately? Has google tried to recruit you?
Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
As part of your job, have you set any of these up? If so, what are you doing with them?
Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
What aspects of the Microsoft business model do you or the execs think are currently broken? Certainly the Shared Source model is a nod to OSS, but do you and Microsoft have future plans to adopt more processes or philosophies from OSS?
feh.
Is Microsoft following Novell's lead and looking to purchase one of the most popular distro's around? Can we look forward to a Gentoo version of Active Directory being released by Microsoft in the near future?
This comment is not a question, so please don't submit it as such.
Really, I don't see the utility of this interview - it's kind of like interviewing somebody from the Intelligence community - all the really GOOD questions they aren't going to answer, and any question they will answer are fluff.
After all, asking a question like "What is the real business goal of the Linux lab" is not likely to result in a meaningful answer, but will result in a fine example of tap dancing around the real truth. (NOTE: this is NOT a slam against Microsoft - any business is going to be cagey about reveling what they are examining and why).
Questions about "Are you using this to break Samba" are just insulting, as well as being unlikely to elicit any response other than "No" - they are just like ambush journalism questions ("Did you really embezzle the money as you are accused of doing" asked as the man is on his way to the trial, or "Did you kill your wife Mr. Simpson?")
I fear that all this little exercise will do is yield a bunch of lame questions that will be handed over to this man, thus "proving" that Slashdot is not able to ask meaningful questions.
www.eFax.com are spammers
How do you handle GPL-licensed software? I'm sure you want to avoid including GPL-licensed code in your products, do you work only on Linux-based code?
And, if we can't find any, we pay industry analysts to simply make up a fraudulent study... that way, we can compare switching from windows 3.1 to Windows XP on a Dell server against switching from windows 2003 to a Z90 mainframe running Linux! That's why our TCO is so darn low!
What a strange bird is the pelican, his beak can hold more than his belly can.
In what areas do you think that Windows/MS could learn from Linux? And in what areas do you think that Linux could learn from Windows/MS?
Every time you post an article on Slashdot, I kill a server. Think of the servers!
Sir,
Will the user community ever recieve a formal apology for Windows ME?
If so, when?
Thank you.
-Glitch "We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." - Linus Torvalds
It seems that Microsoft is under assult from many angles - rightfully so, in many cases. But what do your coworkers do when they see websites like this one? Do they clam up and ignore what might be legitimite criticism, or do they actually listen and learn? As the Linux guy at Microsoft, how do you keep from being ignored by the rest of Redmond?
and do you ever expect to get it back when SCO fold?
Recent windows hardware logo testing requirements involve closed and DRM compliant hardware.
I am interested in your opinions as to how this will affect the open source community when launched publically with vista.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Microsoft doesn't "let" Linux machines integrate. Any integration that's done generally is due to dedicated programmers who figure out what they have to do to fit into the MS world. MS is doing no one any favors....
no comment.
According to Netcraft, Microsoft still runs FreeBSD on some Hotmail serversC Y-6,209.67.0.0,209.67.255.255
http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/hosted?netname=LEGA
What do you think about it?
You_know_who_i_am_0
Actually, I have a plea for the interviewer.
Can you please not attack the guy when interviewing him, like the last time I remember slashdot interviewing an MS employee? Last time you asked the questions but also gave him a whole load of crap that wasn't warranted.
Real men don't write sigs
how much (that your allowed to admit to) do you research to inhibit oss development, such as by patenting methods and copyrighting code that would have evolved on its own?
or to make sure your methods are as hard as possible to integrate with oss methods (esp through clever legal tricks)
Haven't tried either of these but:
. htm
Appears to be a driver:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd
Standalone file explorer:
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs
Open minds will listen to all perspectives before judging. Everyone should have their chance to speak, not just the people whose words are nice or pretty. Unfortunately, it's not always possible to receive exposure to multiple points of view, especially when those views do not conform to the local social norm.
For example, let's take the story about boycotting IE7. The point of that particular blurb is that IE7 has no intention of passing Acid2 on initial release, so people should use something else that is about to or aiming to feature Acid2 compliance. If you read the developer's blog that one post links and contrast that to what people were saying in other posts, you'll quickly realize that the reality is that passing Acid2 is not on the development team's priorities. Instead, securing the browser and providing additional security features is.
My point is that the way we view things depends on our priorities. While I am a big fan of Firefox myself (I'm especially fond of the Adblock extension), I don't see Acid2 compliance as a reasonable justification for boycotting IE7. Sure, web developers will code to the lowest common denominator, thus making everyone's internet experience a little less enjoyable. But, when given a choice of whether to have Microsoft come out with a Acid2 compliant browser or one that keeps Joe Sixpack from getting his identity stolen by a phishing site, I think I would prefer the latter.
Whether MS will be successful in making IE7 airtight, or that the new features will be at all effective is another story. And if IE7 doesn't live up to its hype, then I will start calling it a piece of shrimp stool so vile its very existence creates a dead zone.
For the same reason, I'm very interested in reading what these Linux gurus in Microsoft have to say. What they say might not necessarily be agreeable, and I know of at least one major difference between us (I have no intention of compromising what I stand for for the sake of survival), still, I will not even attempt to discredit what they have to say until I have first heard it. And, if they throw in a few pieces of PR BS every now and again, well, I'm confident I have enough intelligence and knowledge to see through any such attempts. And quite frankly, I'm sure there are many others here who do too.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Bill Hilf doesn't exactly seem to be one of the PR types surely responsible for the "Get The Facts" campaign you clearly loathe:
Bill Hilf
Lead Program Manager, Platform Strategy
Bill Hilf is the Lead Program Manager for Microsoft's Platform Strategy Organization. Bill leads the Linux and Open Source Software technology group at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft, Bill drove IBM's Linux technical strategy at a world-wide level for the Emerging and Competitive markets organization, in addition to his direct customer interaction as a senior I/T architect. Bill has been involved with Open Source Software (OSS) for over ten years, and is an IEEE Distinguished Visitor on the subject of OSS. Prior to joining IBM, Bill was the Sr. Director of Engineering for eToys, where he helped build one of the premiere ecommerce businesses on the Web.
Puh-lease, indeed.
a/s/l
Why would MSFT have a linux lab?
Their only hope is to break their current model and go back to a non-integrated browser (no more "IE is a critical component of Windows" nonsense). And, while they're at it, do the same with the Office component model.
Tightly coupled software is impossible to secure. Its also impossible to maintain, which is why they've been through so many "death marches."
Keeping that in mind, I would have to be like the folks from Missouri - "show me!", and, until they do, discredit any claims to the contrary.
While you and I might have enough intelligence, or enough background info, to sort the wheat from the chaff, the majority of the people out there don't. They're the target, not you or I.
What would I do in their shoes? Take a long walk in the park, figure out a real vision of what I would want a computer to BE (not do - there's a big difference), and then get a group together and block out the necessary underpinnings.
Ironically, the best thing that could have happened to Microsoft would have been for them to have been split into 3 or more companies.
So unless he's announcing that he's going to drag them kicking and screaming into at least the 1980s in terms of overall development strategies, what's the point?
Which is scarier;
Apple Mac on Intel
Open Source Solaris
or
Wine/Cedega/Crossover on Linux?
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
I'm a strong open source advocate, utilizing it on a daily basis for work and at home. I recommend Free alternatives over proprietary software whenever there is a choice. I have turned several people onto the open source path and push for it whenever it makes business sense at work. I believe in the software as well as in the process.
Given my feelings: What would you say to me to get me to believe that Microsoft would be the best place to work? What did they say to you?
The Revolution. Now available as a convienent six tape series from PBS.
Ironically, the best thing that could have happened to Microsoft would have been for them to have been split into 3 or more companies.
Are you implying that Microsoft is becoming the next IBM with all their "infrastructure?" Maybe I am reading too far into things, but Microsoft seems to be doing pretty damn well. Sure, they have only grown in revenue a few percent this year, but that is still billions.
The Microsoft Office suite is one thing M$ does that is done well at least for the average persons needs. I use excel quite a bit in the finance industry, and one of its mail advantages are the wealth of plug-ins for excel: Turboexcel, Mathematica add-in, ODBC connectivity, to name a few very powerful add-ins. The macro recorder and VBA structure is also extremely useful. - Certainly, Office could be drastically improved. One such way to do so would be to make a version that runs on Linux.
When (I refuse to say if ever) might I expect to be able to use M$ Office suite on Linux? You already make one for Mac, so it cant be question of yielding OS market share. It would also give M$ a chance to make some money from Linux users. When? When can we have it?
Who's side are you on, son?
Don't you love your country?
Well how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and c'mon in for the big win?
Do you actually run the more popular non-commercial distributions such as Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu (Ubuntu while commercially backed is free so I lump it in).
If not why not, I know many local businesses, and all those with solid tech experience seem to run debian unless they need a commercial distro for an app.
/* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
'When will it be enough?'
MrCreosote Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump! "You're right! There isn't enough room to swing a cat in here!"
Leaving aside the political issues, because we know what the answers to those will be;
Describe for us a typical day in you and your labs work. What do you actually, physically do?
For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. - Arthur C. Clarke
Are the people who work for you allowed to continue their involvement with their pet Open Source and Free Software projects? If not during work hours in the same way as Google does, what about during their own time?
That's great stuff man. Thanks for doing that write-up. I'll be sure to add that to my wiki so it doesn't get burried in /. archives. :)
Join Tor today!
I was referring to the technical side, which will eventually impact their financials :-)
How can you go from a company of great ethics like IBM to the dark side of anything goes at Microsoft? What is the price of your soul?
You just made up the open source background on your resume to make it look like you were part of the community. That is what a good microsloth would do. Either that or IBM has greatly changed their screening process since you left.
I know there are lots of talented sw. engineers in Redmond, and I'd expect some portion of them like to hack on Linux or BSD. Who knows, maybe they've even formed a users' group or something. What do you know about the "extracurricular activities" of MS engineers, in connection with Linux? If any?
$META_SIG_JOKE
My original point is that your post had nothing to do with the discussion at all, and was just "Dude, I'm so much cooler than that."
My intention was to highlight alternatives that most folks don't think about - or rail against - many vociferously, and dogmatically without taking the alternatives seriously. Just because something has market share does not make it a better implimentation (compare Apple and Microsoft OSs as a simple example of that).
I am not implying that I am 'cooler' because of my choices - that is your interpretation of my words (in fact being 41 - I know I am not 'cooler' than anyone). I just wanted to respond to a post that had nothing to do with my original post regarding the question for Microsoft's Linux lab - the original reply took a deviation - so I used that deviation as an opportunity to provide a little enlightenment regarding other options along the same lines - no less than that reply did.
Your perception of my reply as being motivated a certain way is incorrect - no matter how much you want it to be otherwise. That is all I am trying to get across to you.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
They can't just copy the code, because they don't want to GPL their entire product.
OpenOffice.org is LGPL, not GPL. It's OK to link LGPL code in a DLL against a proprietary program as long as the DLL's source code is included or available at cost.
The real technical reason why Word does not support OOo 1.x or OASIS formats may be an impedance mismatch between Word's model of a document and OOo Writer's model of a document.
When Linux, which is free, can run both Linux and Windows programs
Linux runs Windows applications, not Windows hardware drivers. Call me back when the Microtek Scanmaker 4850 flatbed scanner is supported in SANE.
why would you want to use Windows, which only runs Windows programs
For one thing, only Windows can run Windows hardware drivers.
and get viruses while doing it?
Follow the same techniques under Windows that you use under GNU/Linux (no admin access to untrusted programs, no running executable attachments in e-mail messages, no open inbound ports, and use your distribution's update manager), and it becomes just as hard for viruses to spread under Windows as under GNU/Linux. The only hard part here is that so many Windows applications are poorly written so as to require being run in the Administrators group, but Microsoft is working on cleaning up its Windows Logo Program requirements so that programs "Designed for Windows Vista and Windows XP" can run as a limited user.
are patents seen as a defensive measure only, or are they seen as being useful offensively against competitors and open source developers?
The latter. Proof: enter virtualdub asf patent into Google.
Dear sir,
As we all know, Microsoft's goal is obviously world domination. Since this would mean crushing Linux, one of the last big foes in the area, I'd like to know how you guys think you'll pull it off. I mean, I know I'd never use Windows XP on any of my computers, simply because it's far too bloated imho. With Linux, my system is as small and simple or as large and complex as I want, and I can customize it to efficiency for a few tasks.
Don't you think that getting a legion of nerds to write code (and use!) for a platform they can't tweak is a bit far fetched?
Respectfully,
--James
How much of your knowledge (which you have aquired by leading the development of Gentoo) and what of your knowledge will be used for current en future products of Microsoft?
This question is intended for you personally and not for an adopted corporate PR drone that gives MS execs the warms. Seriously, do you side with the evil abusive monopoly who pay your bills or do you think software should be free (as in freedom)?
I've talked to many programmers in my life, most of these are via IRC and related meets. We all share common likes and dislikes of Linux and FOSS.
.NET, Access and VB programmers whom I've met through girl friends and my father's friends, I've noticed a trend: they don't quite seem to "get it". Linux, the GNU and the ubiquity of such tools as Perl, that is. They seem to think that Microsoft is the only way to go in 'the real world'.
However, when I've spoken to home-professional
Is this the same position people take within Microsoft as well? Do Microsoft programmers believe their server software is the most widely used and only one to use (I'm refering to the actual dominance of apache/php/perl/MySQL)? Do you yourself, with an interest in something completely 'radical' such as Linux, see the same issues?
Thanks,
Matt
Is it true that microsoft actively subverts standards,
as industry standards are not in the interest of
microsoft?
How far have Microsoft recognised that organisations in the real world use a variety of technologies and products in a heterogeneous environment? As a result, what steps are the company making to make some of its previously closed standards available in a way that others can use in a spirit of fair and open competition?
Are there any lessons that Microsoft developers have learned from the expericnces of open source development? Which ones, and how is that going to further affect the ongoing relationships that the compnay has with (primarily) developers and end users [realising of course that Windows and Linux end users are of sometimes radically different types]
It's not you: I'm just this horrifically socially awkward with everybody.
Windows users had it with LiteStep back in the days of Win95/98. Good times. I eventually took it off because I had so many questions with people asking how they too can make their computer that pretty.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
It's well known to everyone that Microsoft introduced the FAT family of partion tables & structure & it made its documents available for everyone interested in implementing it.
What confuses me is that even though Microsoft claims helping the OpenSource Software (OSS) community, it kept its NTFS blueprints hidden! Does Microsoft fear the fact that if it was made available for public use, the OSS community will write a compatible driver for Linux, causing many people to migrate to Linux instead of Windows?
How come Microsoft never introduced the ability to read non-microsoft paritions, like ext2, ext3 & reiserfs? Although that would add-up to Windows' +ve's ! Since many people work on a dual-boot machine because of applications. It would make sense to be able a non-microsoft partition in Windows to render a movie or whatever, instead of replicating data over partitions!
Mod points are a dangerous tool. Abuse them wisely.
- very secure
- fast
- flexible
- rugged
- inexpensive
- easy to install
- easy to maintain
and yet they continue to try to put Linux down. Have you told them how silly that makes Microsoft look in the eyes of anyone who knows the truth and that it is illegal and immoral to spread lies about competitors?A problem is an opportunity http://mrpogson.com
Our scientific application runs on Windows, Mac, and Unix. We recently started the port to Windows, and I have to say that Microsoft Services for Unix proved to be completely useless -- it has virtually zero compatibility with Linux, and even after installing a whole whack of third party downloads to get all the normal tools installed (ex. GNU make, etc.), I still couldn't use it because of missing things. Like, it didn't even have the BASH shell, and even when I manually installed that, it wasn't configured properly. I don't have time for this kind of nonsense. We eventually abandoned it, and are using CYGWIN. You know, this is frankly pathetic.
Microsoft should take a clue from how Amazon sponsers thousands of other booksellers -- if Microsoft embraced Unix/Linux, instead of merely tolerating it and claiming to offer interoperability while really not doing so, then it would probably be much further ahead.
Whatever happened to "embrace and extend"????