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.

Comments

Open Standards

[Oriumpor]

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

what footware?

[SethJohnson]

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

Penguin Aid?

[deathcloset]

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?

Plans

[Azureflare]

What plans does Microsoft have to make it easier for corporations to let Windows and Linux live together happily? Are there plans to increase integration and open standards between platforms?

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!

Can Microsoft Ever Give Us Free As In Freedom?

[nurhussein]

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?

Execs trying Linux?

[unsinged int]

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.

what does microsoft have to offer me?

[ajrs]

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?