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Microsoft Has Built a Linux Distro

Posted by Soulskill on from the wait-what dept.

jbernardo writes: Microsoft has built a Linux distro, and is using it for their Azure data centers. From their blog post: "It is a cross-platform modular operating system for data center networking built on Linux." Apparently, the existing SDN (Software Defined Network) implementations didn't fit Microsoft's plans for the ACS (Azure Cloud Switch), so they decided to roll their own infrastructure. No explanation why they settled on Linux, though — could it be that there is no Windows variant that would fit the bill? In other news, Lucifer has been heard complaining of the sudden cold.

6 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. MS uses what works by danbuter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's in-house and they aren't trying to sell it. No reason not to use Linux.

    1. Re:MS uses what works by number6x · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No reason, other than Microsoft's own policy of 'Eating Its own dog food'.

      This policy was in place in order to force Microsoft to develop its own solutions from within its own software, in order to force their own software to become continually better and better.

      Of course Microsoft doesn't build their own chairs and desks for their offices, so where do you draw the line between the dog food policy and using other's products for solutions instead of their own? Office furniture is a no-brainer, Microsoft has no dog food to eat. Enterprise level RDBMS data bases would be another, as SQL Server is not really in the same class as Oracle or DB2. Linux, however is different. Linux is a general use OS for Intel (and other) based computers. Windows is a general use OS for Intel based computers. This is a pretty significant cross over. Anything Linux can do, Windows should be able to do. Not improving Windows to be able to match or beat Linux at something is definitely choosing to eat someone else's dog food.

      It may show that Microsoft is shedding some of their traditional 'rules' in order to transform the company and create a new Microsoft.

  2. Re:Not the first time... by moehoward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Microsoft had XENIX back in the late '80s and early '90s. And, it was available to anyone. I supported many customers on it with our software and really enjoyed working with it. PC people couldn't believe that you could run a 386 or 486 and support multiple users at the same time with cheap dump terminals. And as I type this from a Linux-based Chromebook, I couldn't be happier that *NIX is not only eating Microsoft's lunch, but it is also being served for lunch at Microsoft.

    We all saw this coming. And we know where it is all going...

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
  3. Re:Wrong choice by coolmoe2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sooo tired of FBSD blowhards claiming that it is the right choice for everything. Linux has a very large developer base and is mature enough to give all of the BSD's a run for their money. Linux is everywhere now days from the data center to your smartphone. Your claims that somebody should be fired for using it is just plain childish.

  4. Re:Wrong choice by Burdell · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I suggest you look up how SDN switches and Juniper routers work. In neither case is the commodity OS used in the forwarding path; it is just a control-plane OS, and the performance of the control-plane OS's network stack has no bearing on traffic performance. Whether FreeBSD's network stack is "better" than Linux's is debatable (I thought all the BSD-heads "knew" that OpenBSD's network stack was the best, not FreeBSD), but it has no relevance here.

  5. Re: Wrong choice by morcego · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Then why is Linux used to power rendering clusters and supercomputers, and not FreeBSD?

    --
    morcego