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Microsoft Hires Director of Linux Interoperability

Posted by kdawson on from the over-to-the-dark-side dept.

AlexGr sends us to Todd Bishop's blog in the Seattle PI for news that Microsoft has brought someone aboard to serve as its Director of Linux Interoperability and head up the Microsoft/Novell Interoperability Lab. "...his name will be familiar to people in the open-source community. In an e-mail late Thursday night, a Microsoft representative said the role will be filled by Tom Hanrahan, who was most recently the director of engineering at the Linux Foundation, the group created through the recent combination of the Free Standards Group and the Open Source Development Labs."

7 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. I recall Netware and NT interoperability... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...back in those days, it amounted to little more than a means to migrate from Netware to an NT domain. The Unix compatibility stuff that exists now amounts to about the same. I wonder what Microsoft has in mind with all this? It would be weird if it was more than "one way" compatibility.

  2. Just another step in validating their IP... by pjviitas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...Vista is just another Linux distribution. Buying Novell was the first step in establishing IP claims on Linux. The suits have already arrived to take away Linux...we just don't know it yet. This of course won't stop those of us who really know how Linux came about...but when Microsoft is done they will have the masses believing they invented it. Just my 2 cents. Hedghog

    1. Re:Just another step in validating their IP... by BosstonesOwn · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You know maybe finally by some stroke of genious , MS realized the real money is not in selling the OS but the apps that lay on top of the OS.

      Linux for years now has become a server competitor , unix was the main server os for awhile , and small servers are dominated by windows. Maybe they finally got the hint that their os is insecure by nature.

      I would love to see a windows rewrite from the ground up. Completely based on security and some of the fundamentals that make windows so easy to use. It is possible that this is what they are doing. Getting into these companies can mean that MS has access to many briliant minds who may not be windows fans. It's easier to embrace the companies these folks work for and get the company paying them on your side , then it is to go after each developer.

      I actually like when all these companies play nice together. It helps to develop better software. We just may see a new version of windows that may play well with linux/unix and be able to hold its own weight in the high end / high availability server market.

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  3. Re:Connections by Pojut · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have no idea why, but for some reason "Director of Linux Interoperability" brings to mind the US Drug Czar and the War on Some Drugs

    fixed.

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    Living With a Nerd
  4. how's it been going with Sun by Locutus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Didn't Microsoft and Sun sign a deal to "interoperate" a few years ago? Where has THAT gone?

    BTW, Microsoft does not want to interoperate with Linux and OSS. They want it gone, so any "talk" about deals and smoke-mirror agreements will only flounder, stall, and drag on forever. Anybody who believe otherwise is just fooling themselves.

    LoB

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    "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
  5. Reminds me of "We're from the government..." by mollog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Reminds me of "We're from the government and we're here to help." To which the reply goes, "You're confusing me, which is it? You're from the government, or you're here to help?"

    Microsoft having someone with the title of "Director of Linux Interoperability" is one of those euphemisms. He's not going to improve interoperability, but he'll be addressing interoperability. Much of the interoperability between Microsoft operating systems and Linux have happened despite Microsoft, not with Microsoft's help. They fought SAMBA, for example.

    Please remember Microsoft's long history of polluting standards and interfaces. They buggered such standards as HTML and Java. They have everything to lose with interoperability, and very little to gain. If they believe in interoperability, they would not oppose the move to open document standards.

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    Best regards.
  6. That's what the patent deals are for... by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Remember that when Microsoft was trying to get into the file/print/email server game, Novell was the leader in the field. But to win, Microsoft merely had to more or less match their functionality and throw in some price cuts and desktop tie-ins to sweeten the deal.

    With Linux, this is harder. They can't use a price advantage to 'choke off the air supply'. Or can they? To me, that's what the Novell patent deal is all about (from MS's point of view, at least). To un-freeify Linux. Microsoft is confident that they can compete on a level playing field. After all, they have a huge starting advantage, plus they still have the ability to tie their server products to their desktop products. But they can no longer undercut on price. That is, unless they convince the marketplace that free Linux is illegal, and the only way to get Linux is to pay Novell's price. Then they can once again price Novell out of the market.

    At least one of the Linux-esque ways of doing business is running servers for free, or at least without per-seat licensing. If that goes away, at least a large part of those Linux fans will lose some of their attachment.

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