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Linux Receives 20th Birthday Video From Microsoft
moonbender writes "The Linux kernel has received birthday wishes from an unexpected direction — a video animation from Microsoft. Quoting The H: 'The video picks up on the strained relationship between Microsoft and Linux by displaying the phrase "Microsoft Vs. Linux" and then showing Tux, the Linux mascot, turning his back on the offer of a birthday cake from Microsoft. After a brief outline of the history between Microsoft and Linux, the video ends with a conciliatory gesture: Tux accepts the birthday cake in his igloo and the video ends with "Happy Birthday" and the editing of the initial phrase to "Microsoft and Linux?' The Linux Foundation has more stuff celebrating the kernel's 20th birthday."
The Linux kernel has received ... from Microsoft.
Clearly this is an attempt to hide patent-encumbered code inside Linux kernel so that Microsoft can sue later!
Google+ vs. Facebook, and why Google+ will fail
n/m
First Duke Nukem forever, then GNU/Hurd, now this.
2012, here we come.
You missed the ending, where the cake explodes, destroying the igloo and penguin.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
With the way the Apple juggernaut has been steamrolling it would make sense to me for Microsoft and Open Source in general to find a way of co-existing. Say what you want about Microsoft, but Apple's heavy-handed, strict controls and policies makes Microsoft look like a pussy cat in comparison.
Is this the same Microsoft that is suing companies for using Linux in their Android mobile phones?
When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
Only a small (though loud) minority of Linux users believes in a Microsoft vs Linux fight. Linux was created in 1991 to be a POSIX compliant kernel, not to be a competitor to MS. The GNU tools were created to have a free Unix. GNU + Linux is a fine example of open source in the Unix world, and is definitely not a reaction/fight/whatever towards Microsoft.
European Linux user, living in Antwerp
No story about Microsoft and cakes is complete without this video :-)
The bottom line is, these are all big BUSINESSES, with an unwavering goal of maximizing profits for their shareholders. When you see all of this "back and forth" between competitors, where one month they're bashing each other and the next, their CEOs are on TV together acting friendly? Remember that NONE of it really means much.
I'm pretty sure that on a personal level, almost all of these tech company "higher ups" have mutual respect for each other. After all, people in similar income brackets tend to have a lot of common interests. (A Bill Gates type isn't likely to have a lot of fun going on the same discounted vacation cruises that your typical family signs up for in the summer, etc. Your idea of a "nice hotel" and his probably aren't the same, nor are your typical "good, yet affordable" restaurant choices, right?) And they share a common interest in furthering high-tech products or services for the masses in SOME manner, even if they differ on the details of exactly HOW they think the future should unfold with them.
By the same token, most of the employees of these firms are just software developers, systems administrators and Q.A. testers trying to earn a paycheck in their field of interest. Guys I knew who coded apps for Microsoft often used Linux or a Mac at home, even if they really liked what Microsoft was doing. (Hey, if nothing else, it's refreshing to come home to something different than what you've got to use at work all day long!)
I'm pretty sure a lot of this animosity we hear of between competitors is cooked up by P.R. and marketing/advertising types. If you've got a product you can get people to rally behind, it's very profitable to pretend you're at "war" with the competition -- even if the C.E.O. of the main competitor is one of your company's C.E.O.'s drinking buddies and they negotiate co-operative deals in the background on a regular basis.
Beware of Geeks bearing gifts...
In a not so distant windows release. We will eventually have standard apis across hardware & platforms, and the oses will compete purely on features and performance while all running the programs. They'll no longer have differing APIs if they want to survive. MS sees this and has plans to ride it as far as they can, across their whole spectrum of products - windows phone, xbox, windows for pc - while Apple, Sony, Android restrict themselves to the developers in their respective markets who don't want to write one app for multiple platforms.
Where the hell it says that Microsoft send it!!?? It just says "User-submitted video"
I'm not sure I understand. Based on the summary, this video was supposed to have been created by Microsoft? It was posted by The Linux Foundation and doesn't seem like a video that would be produced by Microsoft (not so much the style or content, but the perspective; it doesn't seem like it's Microsoft telling the story at all).
Instead, it plays like some sort of lead-up to an announcement OSDL/TLF are planning to make...?
This video looks to me like they are making a friendly hint of things to come. I know it would sound like blasphemy to many, but I could imagine they might want to make a such a monumental change to compete in mobile, where they are currently all but non-existent.
Actually, I just noticed it was posted to the Linux Video site by MicrosoftGermany. Wonder how much the mothership knew about this one?
Anyone scan it yet?
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There may not be a Linux vs Microsoft fight, but there is definitely a Microsoft vs Linux fight. In their own words:
* OSS poses a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat to Microsoft, particularly in server space. Additionally, the intrinsic parallelism and free idea exchange in OSS has benefits that are not replicable with our current licensing model and therefore present a long term developer mindshare threat.
* OSS projects have been able to gain a foothold in many server applications because of the wide utility of highly commoditized, simple protocols. By extending these protocols and developing new protocols, we can deny OSS projects entry into the market.
* They have paid for numerous "independent" studies to show that Linux and LAMP are inferior to Windows and IIS.
* Leaked emails have shown them to have been funneling money to SCO via Baystar.
* They continue to spread FUD about patent licensing, and have sued major Android manufacturers for patent royalties.
They clearly see this as an Us vs Them situation. We don't have to respond likewise, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge their intentions.
We will eventually have standard apis across hardware & platforms, and the oses will compete purely on features and performance while all running the programs.
How do you plan to have different features with no API differences?
Of course ... if you had a clue ... you'd know what UNIX actually is ... as well as Posix ... see ... what you're talking about ... happened 20 years ago.
Both UNIX and Posix certification specify a common API, but its so minimal that its useless.
Windows has supported Posix for the last 10 years, it does require additional installation (but included with the installation media) for servers, but its there and meets full Posix conformance requirements. The NT subsystems support everything but posix sockets and threads on a default install, Unix services for Windows adds those to components to the mix.
Pretty much every commercial OS you can think of supports Posix completely already.
So whatever you think you see that MS has only found recently ... well, they knew about it probably before you heard of Linux.
Its also note worthy to point out that Linux passes neither UNIX nor Posix certification, it comes close in some distros, but certainly not all, and some fair better than others. Its not unique to Linux, OSS in general fails at Posix support, some fail better than others. Which strikes me as funny, you'd think supporting a common API properly so portability was better on your OSS OS would be a high priority. Apparently reinventing the wheel is more important.
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After watching the video, I know I know almost as bad as reading the articles!, I had a few thoughts:
- Well done video.
- Kinda cute.
- And clearly designed to show MS as the adult in any conversation as well as making not mention about how freaking evil they are.
Every bit of that video was about as condescending as you can get. If they thought to win over anyone in the FOSS camp with that kinda crap they must really be drinking some very special KoolAid.
Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
A lot of sites are reporting that this came from Microsoft but don't actually link to anything verifying this to be true.
Can anyone link to something that would back up this claim?