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Microsoft Brings ChakraCore to Linux and OS X (cio.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a columnist at CIO:
A few days ago I wrote about Microsoft's revival of Skype for Linux. I called it "a big deal" -- less because of Skype itself and more because it signified Microsoft's recognition that Linux is a platform worth supporting... Now the company has done it again. At Node Summit this week, Microsoft announced the availability of ChakraCore for Linux. ChakraCore is the core part of the Chakra JavaScript engine that powers Microsoft Edge and Universal Windows Platform. With this move, Microsoft is putting one of its core technologies on a competing platform. This, more than any other Linux-friendly move the company has made, is a clear departure from the Microsoft of Gates and Ballmer that used its technologies to lock users into Windows...
While Ubuntu is the primary Linux distribution that Microsoft is using to showcase its ChakraCore technologies, the company said that the support should easily translate to other modern Linux distributions.
Microsoft's blog post says the experimental implementation runs not only on x64 Linux but also on OS X.
While Ubuntu is the primary Linux distribution that Microsoft is using to showcase its ChakraCore technologies, the company said that the support should easily translate to other modern Linux distributions.
Microsoft's blog post says the experimental implementation runs not only on x64 Linux but also on OS X.
I'd call that more "infest" than "support"...
In a scathing editorial in The Guardian, Epic Games cofounder Tim Sweeney spoke out about Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP) initiative, calling it a "fiasco" and "the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made."
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/tim-sweeney-to-microsoft-universal-windows-platform-can-should-must-and-will-die/
Ignore, Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.
Yeah, this looks like Microsoft is trying to get on the content store gravy train.
Microsoft sees themselves as less and less of an OS company, and more of a business services company, especially with the cloud. Windows is only a small portion of Microsoft revenue now, so they don't feel such a need to support it. It's possible that within the next decade, they may become to view it as a cost center, rather than a profit center.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Then I wonder, what about the Skype application?
Why is it so hard to bring that one up to speed on Linux? I mean, if you really wanted to support Linux?
An alternative could be the Line application?
http://line.me/en/
It is for now only supported on these mobile platforms, and then Windows and Mac: (unfortunately not on MeeGo or Ubuntu Touch, which I have)
iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Nokia
If we could could get them to support wider, then Microsoft could possibly also be enticed to support wider, and more honest on Linux?!
"The current cross-plat implementation doesn’t yet support JIT compilation and concurrent and partial GC features"
Which means it will be slow and useless.
For those who don't know, ChakraCore is open source; the code is on GitHub, under the MIT license.
https://github.com/Microsoft/ChakraCore
by Cyphase ( 907627 )
Before Microsoft got their hands on Skype, the service was configured to use a central server to determine if your desired counter-party was on line, then the two end-points went through a handshake and all remaining communications were point-to-point.
After Microsoft got their hands on Skype, the initial call setup used a central server - and then the entire remainder of the conversation remains similarly routed through that central server, thereby allowing Microsoft to record the entire conversation.
Skype doesn't generate revenue, which means that the initial purchase was a loss-leader. Microsoft weren't trying to bring their own competition to market. There is nothing in the technology that they needed or wanted for their own business strategy. In other words, it's worth being very sceptical of Skype.
So why would they want to turn their attention back to the Linux client? Is it because the "bad guys" are using Linux and Microsoft want to remain in the middle of point-to-point conversations?
I'm sure that Skype is a very handy piece of software when you want to keep in touch with relatives who are miles away, but there are just too many inexplicable decisions being taken with it... What's that old saying: when something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Wake me up when m$ ditches directx in favor of ogl/vulkan (on the xbox platform and on windows) and when the non cloud version of office is available on linux on the desktop.
Until then m$ is evil.
It was a Microsoft program called WISE and licensed to Bristol, Insignia, MainSoft and Locus( https://goo.gl/nrk4ML ). It allowed these vendors to build libraries for UNIX which let Win32 sources be built on UNIX systems. Lots of UNIX app developers porting UNIX apps to Windows since they could sell their apps for both Windows and UNIX. Only one problem, Microsoft pulled the rug out from under them all( save one ) and left all those UNIX software vendors with no path for their UNIX customers but moving to Microsoft Windows. They more than quadrupled the WISE program cost and only one of the vendors could afford to pay it. The one vendor who could still pay the licensing fee was also the one vendor Microsoft hired to port Internet Explorer to Sun Solaris.
So unless every single bit of this ChakraCore stuff is open source and under a BSD or MIT license(ie loose) then stay away, far far away. IMO
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
. . . supporting consistent, non-proprietary standards such as Open Document Format and dropping, forever, their ridiculous, closed Microsoft MOOXML.
That's nice, I guess. But Microsoft doesn't get any special props from me for doing what is necessary for their own survival. Microsoft was (and still kinda is) on the brink of irrelevance. They fought for marketshare while open source eroded their mindshare. It's good for their company that at least their current leaders are capable of accepting defeat and embracing what nearly killed them, but they were in a position all along the embrace open source -- in a meaningful way, not just embrace, extend extinguish -- and they didn't until they had no other choice.
So, yay. Good for them to hopefully now finally be actual contributors to the world in the more enlightened way that open source embodies. Hopefully they will continue to be good citizens and be involved in the creation of yet even more useful software for everyone while also being a successful company.. It just really should have happened a lot sooner.
Soon all those Windows vulnerabilities will be available on Linux too. Do they allow you to compile from source at least or is it a closed binary that needs root rights?
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
I understand being wary of Microsoft, but every indication is that the company today is a heck of a lot different than the one you're referencing.
hi
For some reason this put me in mind of Saddam's "I can change" song from South Park.
Yeah....its sadly a lot worse than under Ballmer, because you didn't see the Ballmernator packing their flagship with spyware that uses tactics taken straight from malware vendors like hardcoding IPs to get around HOSTS blocking.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
the last thing i want in linux is MS trojan crap.
Microsoft must have an entire division devoted to coming up with names that make me glaze over sooner than I can get to a defining sentence in any article in which the word occurs.
List of Microsoft codenames
Hmm, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was originally codenamed "Snowball", which primarily involved the introduction of a 32-bit TCP/IP stack into a 16-bit OS.
Satan: I've got good news and I've got bad news.
Yourself: What's the good news?
Satan: I'm going to give you a choice.
Yourself: And what's the bad news?
Satan: You can either be known as "Snowball" or "Mr Pink".
Yourself: Wow, that's a relief. I was worried I'd get stuck with "Chakra" or something worse, if there even is anything worse.
Satan: Even in Hell, some dishonours are held in reserve. Now hurry up, or I'll assign you one of each, plus swelling and leprosy.
This is what Microsoft should have been doing a while ago. This can really benefit a project like Ubuntu and other Linux projects. Hate all you want on Microsoft, but they can do good stuff if they want. As a Linux user, I want some better support for technology, and frankly the more support through these channels gives more credence for Linux.
You mean like the forced upgrade to Windows 10 ?
That was pure MS.
Or how about how bad the security is in Office for OSX, and the fact that its only 32 bits.
Or how about how completely sh!t Outlook on OSX is compared to the Windows Version (I have to support both).
Nah, MS has not changed that much.
Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.
If you look at the history of things that statement has been applied to (Java, HTML standards) this would indicate Linux on the desktop could now be a runaway success.
This will be nothing more than Microsoft trying to put its self into the driving seat of competing server technologies where they can push the technology into directions that benefit Microsoft.
It's more likely they will do for Linux on the desktop that Google has done for Linux on mobile. Microsoft doesn't care about killing Linux, they want to be able to make money with it as a platform. If we are on our way to Microsoft Linux and the community don't want that then the distro community needs to get their act together, there are hundreds of distributions and nothing that adequately serves a significant portion of desktop users.
You will always be able to make a Linux distro, the only thing to fear here is Microsoft doing Linux better than those that have been flogging their dead horse ideas for the past 20 years to no avail. Yes I realize around 2% of the market like it that way and they can continue to have it that way but it will be mighty embarassing if MS swoops in (as Google did) and creates a successful OS and application ecosystem where the community has failed for so long.
So take this as an opportunity for competition and innovation, if Microsoft is offering something so compelling to users and devs then why is the community failing to offer something equally compelling?
Start the timer. Apple becomes a hardware-only company, running mostly microsoft software. One decade or two?
real work. But for some reason, I should want to use their libraries on a system that actually is already useful for real work?
Really must be something in the water. Gnome3, Wayland, systemd, Trump, and Microsoft on Linux?
It is becoming more evil.
smells like a trojan_horse, after years of being belligerent towards Linux i can not trust microsoft to be honest, look at the mess windows 10 is when it comes to privacy and lack of being open to users,
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
..Or how about how completely sh!t Outlook on OSX is compared to the Windows Version (I have to support both).
Weirdly, we have less problems with Outlook 2011 on the Mac than Outlook 2013 on the PCs (don't ask, weird fsking domain and networking issues which we've inherited and can't change thanks to manglement being luddites..).
Personally, I think you're missing the point, Mac vs PC Outlook, Catshit vs Dogshit, it's still shit.
MS just looking for a way to snoop on non-Windows boxes.
I can't see any reason to want this under Linux. It seems to be entirely MS specific and serves no useful purpose on Linux. Of my five computers, there is only one that runs Windows exclusively and one other that dual boots to Windows maybe once a month. Windows is becoming increasingly irrelevant, as more high quality commercial software is available on other platforms.
Most of the people that I know, use their smart phones or tablets, both Apple or Android, for tasks that were once done on Windows. While many of them have Windows laptops, they rarely use them. Mobile platforms are replacing traditional computing and MS has failed miserably to provide a useful mobile platform of their own. This applies to both business and personal tasks.
Their aggressive tactics to get Windows 10 upgrades installed is a sign of a desperation and one more reason not to trust them.
Microsoft has a history of partnering with companies with the sole intention of undermining them or otherwise creating a monopoly for themselves. Microsoft's not supporting Linux because it wants Linux to succeed. At best it's a stunt to deceive and at worst they're trying to undermine Linux by initially supporting or claiming to support half-heartedly with the sole purpose of ensuring there are no competing technologies developed. They will probably later pull support leaving Linux with yet another Achilles' heel. Linux works, but we should kill proprietary software off if we want it to succeed. Google, Microsoft, and Apple are all a threat to users because they undermine the diversity and compatibility via different proprietary products, then utilize each owns monopoly influence to kill user's freedoms, choices, and privacy/security.
We have staff who manage other peoples calendars , under Windows the multiple calendars are separate windows, on the Mac they are ONE window with the different calendars being a different pastel colour.
So many mistakes were made on the Mac we actually run Outlook for windows under Parallels on them. The extra cost was worth the reduction in errors and aggravation.
Most people I know who use their machines just for personal use, I have pushed towards OpenOffice, it does everything they need.
And I refuse to "rent" software fro MS or Adobe (or anyone else for that matter)
Windows isn't for real work? Trolololo...
The only reason many of us run windows at all is for applications needed for 'real' work that only run on windows.
How's the view from under that rock?
Real work huh? Know how I can tell you know nothing about the real world outside your cunty neckbeard bubble?
The real thing to fear is the legal aspect. M$ dabbling in Linux means they will legislate the crap out of it. Through some bribed court somewhere in east Texas they will end up owning it via some tm or patent bs.
I'm seriously asking -- why should non-Windows OS developers care about whether or not ChakraCore is supported on non-Windows operating systems?
every indication is that the company today is a heck of a lot different than the one you're referencing.
I have seen very little such indication at all -- they look pretty much the same to me.
Whilst I applaud the effort (and welcome alternatives), Chakra isn't quite ready for prime-time on other platforms yet -- more specifically, node-chakra. What it does, it does blazingly fast -- outpacing the v8 core on 6.3.1 -- but there are some specific use-cases which just end in fail, and a commonly-occurring message about buffers not being used in an expected manner.
Next release maybe? V8 needs the competition and I'll gladly take whatever is tops out stability, then features, then speed. I'm not a brand-whore.
Wouldn't this be a good time for Microsoft to try an embed themselves into Linux? I suspect that a number of people (like myself) have no intention of moving to Win10 from Win7. Win10, and everything Microsoft is doing with it, appears to be the final step in getting me to convert to linux on the desktop. Combined with progress in SteamOS and gaming in general in linux (ie. the only real reason I've stayed in Windows), I think the time has finally arrived for me.
Those announced changes coming with the Win10 anniversary patch that disables a bunch of stuff (can't disable Cortana, really?) really drove the point home for me.
Hopefully I can find a place to get linux help that doesn't treat me like an asshole for lacking a reasonable amount of "common knowledge" because I don't live in the environment. :)
The real thing to fear is the legal aspect. M$ dabbling in Linux means they will legislate the crap out of it.
What legislation exactly are you thinking they are going to pass regarding Linux? I think you are ignorant of the fact that Microsoft has been contributing to Linux for many years and the only time they have litigated (well actually only threatened to) was when other people implemented their patents and sold products with them without licensing those patents.
Now you might question the validity of those patents and sure that is perfectly reasonable but the USPTO is the one granting patents, if their incompetence is leading to questionable patents then they need to be held to account.
*sigh*
I don't know why I thought I could have this conversation on Slashdot, of all places...
hi