Microsoft Counted As Key Linux Contributor

alphadogg writes "For the first time ever, Microsoft can be counted as a key contributor to Linux. The company, which once portrayed the open-source OS kernel as a form of cancer, has been ranked 17th on a tally of the largest code contributors to Linux. The Linux Foundation's Linux Development Report, released Tuesday, summarizes who has contributed to the Linux kernel, from versions 2.6.36 to 3.2. The 10 largest contributors listed in the report are familiar names: Red Hat, Intel, Novell, IBM, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Nokia, Samsung, Oracle and Google. But the appearance of Microsoft is a new one for the list, compiled annually."

Comments

Re:whoa

[hairyfeet]

Because Linux is a fiddly PITA? Seriously dude i could teach my 19 year old in 3 weeks how to run an entire office using GPOs with WinServer, its intuitive as hell. Its all laid out nice and neat with objects and groups, very easy to follow trees, hell it couldn't be simpler.

Now try to replace the control you get from AD+GPOs+Exchange+Sharepoint with a Linux server, you can't do it. What you'll get is a kludge of different apps written by different groups that don't even speak to one another and don't give a shit if their itch scratching breaks the other apps, and that is if you are lucky, if not one or more of the apps will end up abandoned on Freshmeat because the developer just got tired of dealing with it.

Linux is GREAT in certain roles, don't get me wrong. its great in HPCs, great in embedded, and makes damned good webservers which is why MSFT added support because there are plenty that run LAMP, but it is NOT good to replace WinServer when it comes to managing WinDesktops and frankly its not a good desktop in and of itself, it will cost you more than its worth in the amount of time it costs you trying to get up to the same level of integration and control that you have with WinServer plus WinDesktop.

This is why as a retailer and one who supports several SMBs I've quit even messing with Linux anymore, it really doesn't let you come out ahead unless you don't attach a price to your time which i do. Maybe if you were on salary, where it didn't matter how many hours you blow?