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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. re by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bill: Tom, I am your father.
    Tom: Really?
    Bill: No, but I hve tons of money for you!
    Tom: Dark side it is!

  3. Typo. by guffe · · Score: 5, Funny

    I believe the title should be: Microsoft Hires Director of Linux Inoperability Slashdot should read through their posts more carefully in the future, so that typos like this doesn't happen.

  4. Razzing doesn't break bones by cyberianpan · · Score: 5, Funny

    And Brad Smith, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Microsoft, is rumoured to have gotten quite concerned about this development. After reading case law on "duty of care" that an employer ought extend to employees he has arranged for Tom Hanrahan to immediately go on advanced "object avoidance course" which will be taught by crack martial arts instructors. Microsoft is refusing to confirm rumours that Hanrahan is currently in a Seattle gymn with 10 instructors & a number of pieces of "office furniture".

  5. Re:Once again by Jussi+K.+Kojootti · · Score: 5, Informative

    Once again I expect to get beaten to death by zealots moderators but I really don't care. Getting karma back on slashdot is really easy screaming a pair of "linuzz rocks" and "OMG MS copies Apple again", so I don't care getting modded down by expressing MY opinion, which is as valid as anyone elses.

    ...

    Not a troll or flaimbait, but mod me so... I don't care. I can fake my stupid karma back. I've done so a houndred of times. Getting karma is easy. losing it by expressing a valid opinion is a honor,

    Personally I think that even mentioning moderation ("I know I'll be modded down for this, but..") is pretty lame. You just spent half your post brooding over it.
  6. Re:Finally by walt-sjc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, what this means is that MS will become more compatible with Linux, not making Linux more compatible with MS products from an interoperability standpoint.

    For example: better NFS client / serving from Windows server, Office being able to read (not write) ODF, running Linux applications on Windows, stuff like that. Things that help people migrate OFF Linux. There may be a side effect that some things in Linux will work better with MS, but that is a side effect and not intended behavior.

    If MS was serious about working with Linux in a positive way, they would be releasing proper documentation on their file formats and network protocols with no strings attached (such as massive license fees.) Unless forced to do so (by the EU) this will NEVER happen.

  7. Re:Finally by ciroknight · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, we got our hands on an early version of this press release:
    HELL, Earth. June 8th, 2007. (NASDAQ: HELQ) Hell has Frozen Over.

    In a shocking event, Hell has taken on an icy interior today. Says one demon, "It's actually quite nice, what with the flying bacon and all." Operators of the Infernal Furnace spoke to us briefly: "All the sudden our computers froze", "We were installing a Microsoft Service Pack and all the sudden a penguin came on the screen and the whole environment changed." Hell has scheduled a press conference to happen later this week where we will receive an update on this situation.

    Representatives at Microsoft were not available for comment.

    Contacts:
    Lucifer,
    666-666-1234
    lucifer@inhell.com

    Steve Ballmer,
    666-666-1233
    therealdevil@inhell.com

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush