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Microsoft Further Pledges Linux Loyalty, Joins Cloud Native Computing Foundation (betanews.com)

BrianFagioli quotes BetaNews: Today, Microsoft further pledges its loyalty to Linux and open source by becoming a platinum member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. If you aren't familiar, the CNCF is a part of the well-respected Linux Foundation (of which Microsoft is also a member). With the Windows-maker increasingly focusing its efforts on the cloud -- and profiting from it -- this seems like a match made in heaven. In fact, Dan Kohn, Executive Director of the foundation says, "We are honored to have Microsoft, widely recognized as one of the most important enterprise technology and cloud providers in the world, join CNCF as a platinum member."

"CNCF is a part of the Linux Foundation, which helps govern for a wide range of cloud-oriented open source projects, such as Kubernetes, Prometheus, OpenTracing, Fluentd, Linkerd, containerd, Helm, gRPC, and many others," says John Gossman Azure Architect, Microsoft. "Since we joined the Linux Foundation last year, and now have decided to expand that relationship to CNCF membership as a natural next step to invest in open source communities and code at multiple levels, especially in the area of containers."

The announcement notes that Microsoft has already been contributing code to the Kubernetes project, "as well as running Kubernetes as part of the Azure Container Service."

109 comments

  1. Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is less and less and operating system creator, and more and more a cloud vendor. It makes sense.

    1. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      'Cloud vendor', my ass. They're technological fascists with ambitions of dictatorship.

    2. Re:Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is less and less and operating system creator, and more and more a cloud vendor. It makes sense.

      If they were a cloud vendor they would be embracing Android more instead of still pushing their windows phone line which they have to start all over again anyway since they dont have cheap x86 chips.

      If they were a cloud vendor they would open up their file system for anyone to use.

      If they were a cloud vendor they wouldn't be extorting the Android phone makers for fake patent infringements.

    3. Re: Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hmm..

      Apple... there's no ambitions or market domination there
      VMware... truly inferior technology at premium prices who make 95% of their sales based on customer loyalty via almost religious beliefs
      NetApp and EMC... why make good tech when we can just exploit government contracts... wait... all our tech is basically obsolete but so long as we can force governments to buy it, we're good.
      HPe... let's buy companies who have loyal customers and 5 year lock ins, fire all their developers and outsource to India and make use of "Too Big to Fail" clauses to rape the customers.
      Cisco... our stuff is better because its Cisco. Buy this tech! Ok, you blew a million on it and it doesn't work? Oh, try this newer tech instead. Doesn't work after another million, we have this other product to sell you.
      Google... no really... it's free... really all of it. That way if every competitor goes out of business, you have to use our stuff and we'll make everyone pay for everyone else. No... we don't actually want world domination. Really. 5 years later, Eric Schmidt and Sergei Brin get hit by a rough flying bus at burning man and the board hires Meg Whitman... enough said
      RedHat, Ubuntu, and most other companies are all about the same.

      I think it was said best in Animal House... Thank you sir, may I have another.

    4. Re: Microsoft by TheOuterLinux · · Score: 1

      Yes...? He said cloud vendor. Same thing. Kill the desktop and turn everyone into data to be mined while still charging a monthly fee for open source software people voluntarily contribute to make, yet you still have to have your own server to run. Same regime, different platform, and new heard of cattle. Peer pressure and midlife crises as the glue. Developers are getting lazy, cloud vendors keep making it easy to build web apps, and no one is asking questions because there's too much money.

    5. Re: Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish red hat or ubuntu had OS dictatorship. This world would be a heaven...

    6. Re: Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Red Hat and Canonical suck. If I could have any OS be dominant, it would be Haiku/BeOS. It's still the best OS ever made, both technically and from a usability standpoint.

    7. Re:Microsoft by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Makes sense indeed.
      Become a member and sabotage the whole damn thing.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    8. Re: Microsoft by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Red Hat and Canonical suck. If I could have any OS be dominant, it would be Haiku/BeOS. It's still the best OS ever made, both technically and from a usability standpoint.

      Stop drinking. If Beos were any good it would be running Macs right now instead of BSD. I've tried it, it simply isn't up to the task. They shouldn't be upset at that assessment. Unix/Linux has outlasted many predictions of death. It's here because it's so good.

    9. Re: Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Red Hat had dictatorship, then it would be the preferred distro of security firms and gov agencies...oh wait it is. If Ubuntu had dictatorship, then we get F'ed over by Microsoft because Ubuntu is their hand puppet, dangerously close to having their snap packages being the same as exe's. You're better off having a systemd-free and linux-libre kernel distro as the goto for everyone and then let the users have a choice afterwards; scripts could be added to menus for hard ware compatibility if needed.

    10. Re:Microsoft by KingBenny · · Score: 1

      ah, +1 for right on spot ... microsoft is what made me start a chinese flash drive collection. I come home one day, i cant get on skype. Three days later i still cant, i succeed in getting some cs rep with a title half an email long to reply. Says i "violated the agreement" ... i say : what did i do the dude bluntly stated : "we dont have to give you a reason and this is the last communication you will receive on this" so i didnt get to backup anything from my onedrive, lost all skype contacts and im left guessing as to what exactly i breached so no more cloud for me unless i have cold backups, its easy and i'll use the free bits (its just personal use ofcourse) but if my data isnt mine then i seriously wouldnt consider paying for it and im simply not going to use it anymore, xept google photos to some extent since i can dump unlimited, i can dump, clear my cards and sort later, other than that i found a nice tool on linux b/c of that ( sudo apt-get -y install f3 #f3write f3read f3probe f3fix test flash drives for ) see for yourself, its nice to find out which drive is actually what it says if you collect lots of cheap ones but i still lost a few people i liked talking to and a lot of data that has zero but emotional value and thus cannot be replace b/c i believed (how stupid is that) my data was stored more safe than iit would be on a flash drive or an ssd at home and seeing as i did some math ... $40 for 120gb ssd kingston which is said to last 1 million hours of actual usage, compared to a yearly sub for 120gb cloud storage ... thats not even a choice that has to be made lol and before i get flagged off-topic ... i can see only one reason why they would, because they're edisonians, just to pite ideas they can get for free and put it in mastodont-OS 11, agreed :) microfascst *** f***s

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
  2. EEE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Embrace --- You are here
    Extend
    Extinguish

    1. Re:EEE by d.w.mitchell.55 · · Score: 1

      Maybe we should getting familiar with the "BSDs" before phase 3?

  3. Where there's clouds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There is rain. The rain being your data.

  4. Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    The rich often make huge contributions to organizations like hospitals and universities. The unspoken understanding is that these 'donations' are for 'future considerations'; at some point in the future, they will 'ask' for special treatment of some kind: preferential medical treatment, or admission to the school for their kid, whether the kid is up to snuff or not.

    So it is with Microsoft and Linux, but more sinister: As I keep telling you all, Microsoft would like nothing better than to destroy Linux and any other 'competing' operating system. Short of that, the annexation and subversion of Linux as a whole is an acceptable alternative to them. Insinuating themselves into the Linux community, with moves like expensive 'memberships' in Linux-oriented organzations, is a move in that direction. When they have bought enough influence, they can dictate the direction Linux goes. Between subverting Linux into 'just another piece of software' that runs UNDER Windows, and the ability to completely exclude any other OS than Windows from even booting up on any modern platform, Microsoft can become the de-facto OWNER of Linux, and then do whatever they please with it. Don't ever say you weren't warned.

    1. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Looking over your shoulder much?

      I'm so sick of the nerd rage. Has MS killed your puppy? The 90s called, they want their MS monopoly paranoia back. Badly.

      What's it going to take from guys like you to put this behind you and realize MS isn't the bunch of dicks you make them out to be? The market is completely different than what is was 20 years ago, and MS has figured out it'll be a lot more welcomed in the industry if they *cooperate* rather than embrace, extend, extinguish. It's over. Give it up. MS did, despite the corporate culture shared with over 100,000 employees. So why can't you?

    2. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because their pattern of behavior says otherwise. Do you let a career criminal, who has been convicted and incarcerated several times, out of prison just on his word that he's 'reformed' and 'wants to be a good citizen'? No. They have to prove, over years or even decades, that they are sincere and can be trusted. Look at the dirty shit that Microsoft has done with the Windows 10 rollout: Forcing it on people with Windows 7 whether they asked for it or not. Taking away people's right to choose what is and is not updated, essentially removing their right of ownership of their own hardware. Insering ads into things that should never have ads. LYING through their teeth about 'Windows 10 adoption' when at least HALF of it was without anyones express permission to install it. They have made it amply clear that they want to dominate the market, and have a long past history of dirty dealing with consumers; now we're supposed to trust that they don't want to subvert or destroy their only competitors in any way they can? Go fuck yourself, Microsoft shill. You're so goddamned obvious that it's laughable.

    3. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Translation: "My hatred for Micr0$haft is what defines my nerd cred, and I am unable to let it go. Also, I still live in my mother's basement, so I am unaware that it is no longer the 90s,"

      Seriously, MS has fucked some things up, even recently, but no worse than Apple or Google. To single them out for things EVERYONE does, and ignore the positive things they are doing, makes you an anti-MS shill, with nothing useful to add to the conversation.

    4. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Mistakes" is putting it lightly. Microsoft actively attempted to destroy Linux at one point (via SCO's lawsuit). Yes, now it has been forced to play nice, and while I'm not fanatically anti-MS, I see no reason to trust them. They're only playing nice right now because Android has utterly fucked over their market dominance in the consumer computing world.

      And while Google and Apple have done their share of nasty or stupid things, the only other company I can think of that rises to MS's level of assholery is Oracle.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    5. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'no worse' lol. only one of the three you named is a abusive monopolist convicted in multiple countries around the world. you should look at yourself. you come off more like a ms shill than anything defending scumbags like that.

      Did you add anything? Youre just posting for that fat tasty pay check from your ms overlord.

    6. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Systemd and Gnome 3 have done far more to destroy Linux's usability and reputation than SCO or MS could ever have managed to do.

      MS never made my Linux systems fail to boot properly. Systemd has managed to make it happen regularly! If there is anything that makes Linux unusable, it is when it doesn't actually boot properly!

    7. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      You must be very fortunate indeed never to have had a Windows cease to boot properly.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    8. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It really doesn't have anything to do with being either a ms-shill or anti-ms-shill. It's about trust, which a lot of people don't have with microsoft. Yes, they've done some things right in the past - a company as big as ms hopefully can do that once in a while, but we've seen more often than not that they get a lot of things wrong. Trust is the defining factor for me, which I have none with that company.

    9. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol the fact that you think ms was at its worst in the 90s says that you were either asleep during the 2000s or you were still in nappies. Go away and school yourself kid.

    10. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does Windows have to do with any of this? The GP didn't mention it. The GP is obviously talking about Linux. Windows having startup problems don't excuse systemd causing Linux startup problems. It actually makes the Linux situation worse. Linux's reliability is now no better, and may actually be worse, than Windows' reliability is!

    11. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "MS never made my Linux systems fail to boot properly"

      Cough. It's called uefi on branded laptops and if it wasnt for exploits your windows rt tablets would be worthless because when ms abandoned the platform they werent going to let you do anything else with the hardware that you own.

    12. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > I'm so sick of the nerd rage. Has MS killed your puppy? The 90s called, they want their MS monopoly paranoia back. Badly.

      And the big bad wolf is now vegan, the lion is dying and wants to name me its heir etc. etc.

      I believe MS likes Linux and it would like it more if it were its property. For now, it's just patents, who knows if it'll manage to take possession of the Linux brand? I guess MS will like Linux even more when it becomes MS Linux.

      MS is a corporation, and a for-profit one. They're not out to be cool, to make friends, they don't even be inventive, creative or innovative -- they want money. M-O-N-E-Y, capisce? A Microsoft dude might be a cool, reasonable guy. I believe Satya is one such dude, probably even interesting to talk to. That said, Microsoft is a monster and it needs great quantities of food on a daily basis. It's food is markets and Linux has all those markets on which Microsoft isn't. They're not here to share the desktop. They want to get into supercomputers, servers and mobile.

      They have zero interest in becoming your or my friend.

      I'd believe some inside MS began to understand where they're heading and that it pays to be a respected member of the tech community. They may prevail or not. It depends on internal political struggle and we really cannot know how will the beast behave in the near future. What I know is that those who "befriended" it are either dead or inside its belly.

    13. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Linux file systems have been around for a very long time. Long enough for windows to be able to identify what they are but even to this day windows sees linux and bsd partitions as empty space hoping you will accidentally wipe them when using partition software. Then theres also windows wiping the bootloader with its own while Linux respects your multiboot settings.

      Back when nt was new microsoft intentionally gave ntfs the exact same file system id as hpfs to cause confusion even though Microsoft could have given it any other id they wanted to.

    14. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does Windows have to do with any of this? The GP didn't mention it. The GP is obviously talking about Linux. Windows having startup problems don't excuse systemd causing Linux startup problems. It actually makes the Linux situation worse. Linux's reliability is now no better, and may actually be worse, than Windows' reliability is!

      Really? Well, I have been using Linux with systemd since inception and have never had a problem. Actually most of the time you don't even have to fiddle with it.

      Maybe you should find out what is causing your problems and submit a bug report or failing that fix it yourself since the source is completely open.

    15. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

      You forgot telemetry entirely. Oh, we're hardly collecting anything, and you can disable it. Oh, we're collecting a bit of data, but it's anonymized, and you can disable most of it. Oh, we're collecting a pretty fair bit of data, and it's kind of anonymized, and you can disable some of it. Oh, we can actually collect every keystroke from your PC, and by the way, get fucked. And while we're at it, we're going to release a dozen different "security" updates for Windows 7 and 8 to push it back into there, and if you don't install those, then we'll stop releasing individual updates and just start pushing out update rollups which include the telemetry-related updates, and then you have to go back and remove them again after the fact if you don't want to be spied upon.

      There's nothing about or from Microsoft that is not some kind of scam.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Insults? Check. Didn't respond to any points? Check.

      This is proven behavior. So take your insults and fuck off unless you got something to back it up.

    17. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forced to play nice? They're still making Android set manufacturers pay and suing people for using FAT32. That's NOT playing nice!

      They're just in it for the money as usual, and perhaps more evil than before (they just don't give a fuck what people want out of Windows anymore -- built-in spyware and all that). They're just pretending to be OSS friendly to you'll rent servers on Azure.

    18. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      And how specifically is systems causing your issues. I'm no fan of systems but frankly the number of ACs making pretty vapid claims about it producing instability makesmme suspicious.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    19. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fuck you and fuck microsoft. you are another clueless windows user who is unable to see the world around you for what it is. there is no point talking to you. Trying to break through to MS slaves is just another way for MS to waste my time/subvert freedom.

    20. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes you think that Microsoft hasn't got anything to do with systemd? For all anyone knows they've got systemd advocates and coders quietly on their payroll as part of their overall strategy.

    21. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly, precisely, THIS.

      Miscreant-o-soft wants a world where THEY are the only source of operating systems for ANY computing device, tiny, small, big, or gigantic. And they want all of it to Phone Home constantly to MS C&C, and they want you to pay for the hardware it runs on that they then control.

    22. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by chipschap · · Score: 1

      I don't care very much what Microsoft does as long as they leave me alone. I don't care who runs Windows, who thinks Windows is objectively better, etc. To each his own.

      I run Linux and I'm happy with that, and for me, end of story. If you run Linux too, cool. If you run Windows or Mac, go for it. Whatever.

      However, I do care when Microsoft starts to threaten Linux in the name of "cooperation." Yes, they are a for-profit company, I get that. But if they become completely dominant (and UEFI was a step in that direction) we will have lost all computing freedom and all computing privacy (or at least whatever is still left).

      It will be like the old-old days when IBM rented their computers and completely dictated terms.

    23. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

      Year of the Linux Desktop, proudly brought to you by Microsoft.

      We are living the old curse..."May you live in interesting times."

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
    24. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The old "mother's basement" insult, eh? Edgy and creative!

    25. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Microsoft has been forced to behave. But when force is needed to make them behave, might as well force them into the ground. They cant be trusted. "Others are bad too" is not an argument for anything.

    26. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll always have GNU...

    27. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I Hurd they make some good stuff. -PCP

    28. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, nice shill, shill.

      Microsoft is more evil than ever. They include SPY-FUCKING-WARE in Windows 10, which they strongarmed on to millions of PCs. That's along with the malware behavior, adware and crippling user/administrator control over YOUR OWN PC.

      Yes, Microsoft are very much the dicks that intelligent people say that they are.

    29. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by slashrio · · Score: 1

      And maybe someone (wikileaks?) should check out Lennard's pay slips.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    30. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by slashrio · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but off-topic. What he says about MS is deeply true.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    31. Re: Buying them one donation at a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, oh. MikeeUSA posting as AC.

    32. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by Rob+Y. · · Score: 1

      Yep. Microsoft hasn't changed - what's changed is who their enemy is. It used to be that the 'enemy' was anybody who produced desktop software or operating systems. Linux certainly made the cut - but so, also, did Netscape, Novell and anyone who could derail their plan of Microsoft software in every device supported by unavoidable fees baked in - plus hefty fees to corporate customers.

      Then, along came Google and proved there were other business models that could produce huge amounts of income. Not only did Microsoft want to get in on that income stream, they also wanted to deny it to any competitor that had the potential of eroding their core business. And Google went on to oblige by taking over the web browser market and the mobile phone markets. Google docs even showed that it was possible to do what MSOffice does - for free. Yes, Docs isn't a one-for-one competitor, but as a proof of concept, it scared the shit out of MS. Likewise ChromeOS.

      And in the meantime, along came the rest of the web to demonstrate that the entire desktop software paradigm was out the window - except for some specific use cases that we can ignore for the purposes of this argument. And the new paradigm was based on Linux servers. Somewhere along the line they finally gave up on Windows Phone - which was probably their last connection to their old business model of selling software. Sure, they're still raking it in on patent extortion, but that can't last forever...

      So now they're trying to adapt - and doing a pretty decent job of it. They've still got enough corporations hooked on MSOffice and/or some 3rd party Windows-only app to carry them forward for a while, but their enemy today is Amazon. And Amazon is Linux - so if they want to lure AWS customers to Azure, they need to support Linux well. Still, not the best of motives from our point of view - so all things being equal'ish, I'd still prefer to avoid them whenever possible.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    33. Re:Buying them one donation at a time by messymerry · · Score: 1

      Microsoft still pops up an instant dialog trying to get users to format ext drives. When they stop doing this, then i will consider whether they are sincere about playing nice with Linux...

      --
      Dear Microlimp: I give you 2 valid product keys for win7 and you reject both of them. Piss off you wankers!!!
  5. Must feel great to be a long-time Linux supporter. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    systemd, MS "pledging loyalty" to it, etc...

  6. Re:Must feel great to be a long-time Linux support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BSD isnt just better. It also has a better license.

  7. Re:Must feel great to be a long-time Linux support by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It does actually. What you just described is that Linux keeps getting better, and even Microsoft realized that they have no chance of beating it anywhere but in the homes of the clueless.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  8. The Linux Foundation. Pfft. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's just an industry consortium. Perhaps a tad better than the MPEG-LA, but not much different than USB.org or similar consortia.

    Hasn't much to do with the ideals of free software.

    Actually, if you read that announcement, you'll discover the very kind of weasel-wordery typical for that kind of associations.

    Microsoft's a blight, stuffing ballots, poisoning standardization processes, bribing decision makers, spying on users and using their market power to sell inferior products. Your typical big-corp sociopathic behaviour.

    1. Re:The Linux Foundation. Pfft. by HiThere · · Score: 1

      You're pretty much right about the "Linux Foundation". "Well respected" isn't a reasonable description, unless you specify who is doing the respecting. The Linux Foundation has a history of questionable decisions and actions, and is actually less to be trusted than is Red Hat (which *used* to be reasonably trusted).

      Actually, calling a agent "respected" is PR fluff unless you specify who is doing the respected. With the proper groups doing the respecting you could get "internationally respected bank robber" being a valid description. *I* respect Linus, but there are lots of people who don't. I also respect RMS, but again there are lots of people who don't. Note that this doesn't make *any* of us wrong. We may be judging by different criteria.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    2. Re:The Linux Foundation. Pfft. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Actually, calling a agent "respected" is PR fluff [...]

      Exactly my sentiments. Heck, I rather respect Poettering than I could Microsoft.

  9. But still applying the patents FUD by Fudoka · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Until Micro$oft stops pretending that Linux (and therefore Android) are using their patents or are at least willing to say just which patents these are it's just more Micro$soft bullsh*t. When words and actions disagree, believe the actions.

    1. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Go back to mommy's basement, child. The adults are trying to have a conversation.

      Where are they? All I can see is trolls not old enough to remember Compu$erve.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Until Micro$oft stops pretending

      Yeah I know. I can't believe companies are sending many millions of dollars to Microsoft without doing due diligence!

    3. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by chipschap · · Score: 1

      The adults are trying to have a conversation.

      The "adults" are not ACs.

    4. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the non AC s are clueless, so much so they can't seen to disinguish the value of the content independent of the user name or size of uid number. Sad really.

    5. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by antdude · · Score: 1

      Talk is cheap. :/

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    6. Re:But still applying the patents FUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Calling others "puerile" is just an ad hominem and not a particular brilliant one. How often do people call others childish or brats?

      Writing M$ is not puerile at all; it has no relation to any young behavior. It's just depicting that corporation as one which seeks profits -- as opposed to YMCA, for instance.

      Frankly, if you have no opinion on the subject, it adds nothing to keep repeating the corporate line about detracting its critics. Please try to bring more solid arguments to the discussion than merely "you're a brat".

  10. MS still has about 40 years of make-up work to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" was a real sentiment for so long within Microsoft. I can still remember the late 80s and early 90s when their tactics were to "buy and put on a shelf" or "litigate out of existence" so many companies and products that we would still love to see today. The do not have my heart. They do not have my mind. And I'm not buying a Windows license for a third-tier hypervisor or for a platform to run my free, open-source, well-built, stable operating system on. The Ballmer days were a shit show of antipathy of and to everything else in the tech world, to every product or company that *might* compete with them. From screwing with Tobi Oetiker and the Samba Team to bungling every smart phone they've ever touched Microsoft has constantly been a dark force in a world potentially filled with infinite light. And let us not forget the SCO proxy war against Linux, which they funded. They are a collection of borderline sociopaths that built their wealth on a half-finished, insecure operating system that required constant updating, most of which was "for pay." Today their underlying OS changes very little, very slowly, because they simply rearrange Userland (including more eye candy) and call that "new and improved" then charge for that. Then the underlying problems remain unresolved, waiting for yet another release. That Microsoft takes a keen interest in Linux and BSD scares the shit out of me for the future of both Linux and BSD. They are not to be trusted in their motives or means. Perhaps that will change in another 40 years. Perhaps not. But for the time being, keep your Microsoft out of my Linux and BSDs. No good can come from trusting them.

  11. Uhhh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    whatever floats your boat, dude. Did you remember to take your meds?

  12. Please make a distro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or buy Cannonical.

  13. Spot the error by AlanObject · · Score: 2

    Somebody is writing as if they believe that a major corporation with unlimited amounts of cash joining a trade group reveals anything about that corporation's intent with regard to that trade group's goals or anything else.

  14. 3 steps: A... A... A! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    1) Abuse, pretending to be friendly --- In the area of Microsoft's Linux abuse, you are here.

    2) Sneaky abuse, not widely reported because technology people make more money protecting against it.

    3) EXTREME ABUSE!

    One example of Microsoft's ABUSE step 3: Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made. Quote: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC."

  15. Corporatization by jmccue · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well I am not concerned about Microsoft pledges, the big worry is the Corporatization of Open of Free software. There are hundreds of examples of that happening and easy enough to find.

    Already we see no push back on proprietary blobs/firmware. I almost would like to see this as a requirement: "If you do not support Open Firmware, you cannot have any decision input on the direction of Linux" or any related project.

    1. Re:Corporatization by grumpy-cowboy · · Score: 1

      Yes, same thing happened to W3C...

      --
      Will $CURRENT_YEAR be the year of the Linux Desktop?
  16. Evil gives birth to MORE EVIL. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Parent comment about Microsoft: "blight, stuffing ballots, poisoning, bribing, spying, inferior products, sociopathic"

    Some people are too accepting of Microsoft. Where is mention of all the other worse abuses?

  17. Red Alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Big M's often used MO when they can't directly beat kill something is to embrace and extinguish.

    This sounds like the 'embrace' step.

    The way to see if they are actually supporting Linux is to see if their flagship apps start working on both using the Linux system calls.
    Holding your breath waiting for this is not recommended.

    1. Re:Red Alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VS Code, SQL Server, .NET, and PowerShell run on linux, but the software I believe you're referring to is Office. When that runs natively on linux is when I'd even consider trusting ms (and even then with extreme hesitation).

  18. meanwhile, folks who should know better... by jabberw0k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is depressing to attend a Linux users group and see that practically everyone there is carrying around a proprietary spy-machine. If anyone should grok the dangers of giving money to Google and Apple, it should be Linux users. But even they are blithely following the sheep. Help me RMS you're our only hope...

    1. Re:meanwhile, folks who should know better... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      It's basically proof that people prefer features over freedom. Not that I can hold them blameless......there are a few pieces of software I really need...........

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:meanwhile, folks who should know better... by thejynxed · · Score: 1

      It isn't just that, it's the fact that international conglomerates hold international patents on pretty much anything and everything involving hardware and the associated firmware. What good is any OSS for hardware if it can't run or is otherwise severely crippled (looking at you in particular, GPU, printer, and most networking and sound card drivers). For things like the GPU drivers, it is highly doubtful they will ever become truly open because the major makers like AMD and nvidia license patented tech from third-parties in their designs and driver software, and Intel is always way behind on the hardware & feature end.

      --
      @Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
    3. Re:meanwhile, folks who should know better... by jabberw0k · · Score: 1

      Which is exactly why anyone giving those companies any money whatsoever, does themselves actual harm. Stop hurting yourselves, folks!

  19. Microsoft didn't force systemd on me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    While I've never liked using Windows, I have to admit that it wasn't Microsoft that forced things like systemd, Gnome 3, PulseAudio and NetworkManager into the Linux distros I used to like to use. In fact, I really like using their VSCode editor for doing C++ dev on Linux.

    When I look at who has hurt my Linux experience, it hasn't been Microsoft. It has in fact been some of the most prominent Linux vendors. If anyone is 'embracing, extending and extinguishing' Linux, I think it is them.

    With only hobbyist Linux distros now not forcing systemd on me, I've been forced to move to FreeBSD. It wasn't Microsoft that made me ditch Linux; it was the Linux community itself that did that.

    1. Re:Microsoft didn't force systemd on me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With only hobbyist Linux distros now not forcing systemd on me, I've been forced to move to FreeBSD. It wasn't Microsoft that made me ditch Linux; it was the Linux community itself that did that.

      Red Hat was patient zero, and infected both Arch and Debian.
      Ubuntu contracted it from Debian.
      Mint contracted it from Ubuntu.

      There are quarantine zones where systemd dare not tread, and the number of survivors who reach them grows daily.

      There are several great Linux distros without systemd:
      Devuan (a fork; Debian without systemd)
      Gobolinux
      Void Linux

      And of course the old guard distros that had natural immunity to systemd:
      Gentoo
      Slackware

      Don't give up on Linux. It is more crucial than ever to group with other systemd survivors and lend support to those who still need to be evacuated from the contaminated distros.

    2. Re:Microsoft didn't force systemd on me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a pitty that the systemd franchise seems to be in lockstep with the story line of "The Strain" Now in series 4, it's not going well.

    3. Re: Microsoft didn't force systemd on me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Again with the "forcing" bullshit. You'd feel no one is entitled to demand others to make their sysvinit /openrc/runit/etc. project to comply with systemd, and VICE VERSA. No one owes anyone.

  20. We havent just lost the battle, we've lost the war by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Literally the only way to win at this point is a threefold:
    open hardware
    return to niche software
    excise the (corporate/sjw/interpersonal) cancer(s)

    Basically in order to regain what many people thought the movement was about, we would have to lose mainstream status by in part or in whole reversing popular (but technically shortsighted) decisions, trudging through many of the same issues that were at hand during the 80s-00s, only now with much more complicated hardware that can take YEARS to develop drivers for (some of which are much more open, and many of which are even less open than in the past.)

    For anyone who has had a doubt though, the Linux Foundation definitely is a snake in the grass of the Linux community, no matter who it employs, supports etc. The choices at this point are throwing away linux and starting from scratch (as linux once did due to minix's unfavorable licensing and BSD's legal issues of the time), migrating to a BSD (some driver support, better stability in many cornercases than Linux, less user friendly configuration, more tied to a specific userspace version, less support for apps, unless utilizing the linux abi), or forking linux, fixing a number of its longstanding issues (like adding versioned ABIs separated into modules for long term driver support, ensuring the core kernel footprint continues fitting inside arch/bootloader limitations (I'm looking at you sparc32/sparc64/i486/etc) and various other things that were intentionally broken/removed over the years.)

    On the bright side, there have already been pushes at the userspace level to change things. Musl libc has done a good job working around the mess of glibc. While it has had a few CVEs of its own (one or two of which could be dangerous) it is a far cleaner codebase, easily portable to new arches, has a few OS ports going on (notably a win32/64 port for common 'posix clean' libc functionality across linux/windows). Additionally there is pcc, openwatcom-v2, and a few others as far as compilers go. Not all of them can compete with gcc/clang, but given a focus of developer energies we could back away from C++ as a core requirement, and perhaps move back to C compilers in C, with optional optimization passes handled through intermediate language output, in whatever language is best suited. Leaving the basic compiler clean while still allowing all the bloated new optimizations that people seem to clamor for (even as many of them offer negligable improvements for older/non-standard processors or well written software, while taking an inordinate number of extra cycles to get a basic compilation done.)

    While I focused on the software above, the hardware requirement has become critical now that all processors have what amounts to a 'big brother processor' in there, even if they are not being used as such today. An embedded processor/secure environment like the Intel ME, AMD PSP, or ARM Trustzone are fine *IF* the user has the capability to set their own key as well as (with physical access) to disable the manufacturer key (if not simply omitted/set as a rewritable default.) Done properly resetting the key would not give away old key data (similiar to the 'ideal' TPM module handling, but without the manufacturer baked in keys), while allowing the user to set/reset the key as they felt the need, ensuring the security of data they didn't want leaking while also allowing reuse of the system in the event that old authentication information was lost. Without the option to change the keys, compromise of a manufacturer's key with a method of disabling/replacing the software is currency a deathknell security-wise to the integrity of such systems. Whether RISCV, J-core, another 'open hardware' design, or better yet a combination of a multiple open CPU cores using (a) standardized chip package(s) along with an open motherboard design they can all be verified and operated against, would solve point 1 of the war losses.

    Point three, excising the cancers, is no different than the requirement for social nerd-dom in ge

  21. Loyalty? by sqorbit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does this title really claim that Microsoft is showing loyalty to Linux? Microsoft is battling for cloud dominance just like every cloud vendor. They are joining because it makes business sense, not to show any loyalty to anything Linux related. It's quite a jump to assume that Microsoft is pledging loyalty to a competing product simply by making a business move.

    --
    Sent from my TARDIS
  22. Time to extinguish M$ under some patents... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just like they threatened to do to Linux :)

    Maybe it is time to put together a kickstart patent fund to sue Microsoft out of existence? I'm sure there are lots of people who COULD get software patents working on open source who don't, whether due to lack of money or lack of need.

    Get a few of them filing money for the patents to use against proprietary software and lawyer up. It'll take a few (dozen) years, but we could ruin microsoft and companies like them, using their own tools against them. Best of all, said patents could then provide a shield to other free software projects if any other companies try and slap them down over patent disputes.

  23. Windows? Loyalty? by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    Watch out Linux!!!

  24. Microsoft tracking... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    So long as user tracking remains a focus of Microsoft consumer-oriented OS's, Microsoft can "pledge Linux loyalty" all they want. Strategically, Microsoft and Linux are at opposite ends of the spectrum on the tracking issue. It appears that any "loyalty" offered by Microsoft is little more than lip service.

  25. Embrace, extend, and extinguish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or Embrace, extend, and exterminate...

  26. Keep your enemies closer by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 4, Informative

    Microsoft is just heeding the old adage: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Microsoft is no friend of Linux. Trust Microsoft at your own peril.

  27. This proves it! by HanzoSpam · · Score: 1

    Time to switch to FreeBSD!

    --

    Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
    1. Re:This proves it! by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Time to switch to FreeBSD!

      If only it were up to the task. BSD has a good decade or so worth of catch up to do. Good luck with that crowd. They can be abrasive.

  28. Embrace, extend, extinguish. by intellitech · · Score: 1

    Again, and again, and again...

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
  29. Re: Must feel great to be a long-time Linux suppor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That entirely depends on what you consider "better". I don't want a corporation taking my libre code and charging people for it, or remixing it into a closed product they can sell.

    The BSDs allow for kleptocrats to leech from the libre software world and give nothing back.

  30. New conductor, same ol' song... by jon3k · · Score: 0
  31. Re: Must feel great to be a long-time Linux suppo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't want a corporation taking my libre code and charging people for it, or remixing it into a closed product they can sell.

    If that's true, then you don't support free, libre, open source software. You want to impose a form of tyranny.

    If you really supported free, libre, open source software then you wouldn't care who uses your code and how they use it.

    That's what 'libre' means: you can't tell other people what to do.

    Don't pretend to support liberty and freedom when what you really want is tyranny.

  32. Nobody at M$ management has noticed yet. by sproketboy · · Score: 1

    But when these ostriches do they will kill this. Just a FYI.

    1. Re:Nobody at M$ management has noticed yet. by schleimkeim · · Score: 1

      Management usually only notices things when there are red numbers on the report.

  33. Name dropping by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    open source projects, such as Kubernetes, Prometheus, OpenTracing, Fluentd, Linkerd, containerd, Helm, gRPC

    That looks like name dropping: Half of them do not have a Wikipedia page, some do not even show on top when doing an internet search.

  34. Re:We havent just lost the battle, we've lost the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    rofl throwing out linux... lol what are you? an m$ shill lol...
    linux is finally getting there and you want to throw it away lol...

  35. Re: Must feel great to be a long-time Linux suppo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Don't pretend to support liberty and freedom when what you really want is tyranny.

    Just show your support to that NK guy when he comes and sets up a party. Vote for him, because if the people is truly free they're also free to vote for a tyrant.

    Or when Russia chooses to do the same with a puppet candidate, just vote for him and show everyone how America is free.

    BSD is a cool system, no doubt. It is a source of ideas for Linux and I find it great when we can pay back somehow.

    That said, BSD license idea is "you can do anything including killing Freedom". Forgive me if I see it as moronic.

  36. Proprietary software is always untrustworthy. by jbn-o · · Score: 1

    Don't blame the free software movement for that. The free software hackers who make the Linux-libre variant of the Linux kernel spend time deblobbing the upstream kernel (Linus Torvald's variant) which contains non-free software. This difference is at the heart of the philosophical difference between the older free software movement and the younger open source development methodology. They don't see proprietary (non-free, user-subjugating) software the same way.

    The GNU Project points out:

    ...people from the free software movement and the open source camp often work together on practical projects such as software development. It is remarkable that such different philosophical views can so often motivate different people to participate in the same projects. Nonetheless, there are situations where these fundamentally different views lead to very different actions.

    The idea of open source is that allowing users to change and redistribute the software will make it more powerful and reliable. But this is not guaranteed. Developers of proprietary software are not necessarily incompetent. Sometimes they produce a program that is powerful and reliable, even though it does not respect the users' freedom. Free software activists and open source enthusiasts will react very differently to that.

    A pure open source enthusiast, one that is not at all influenced by the ideals of free software, will say, "I am surprised you were able to make the program work so well without using our development model, but you did. How can I get a copy?" This attitude will reward schemes that take away our freedom, leading to its loss.

    The free software activist will say, "Your program is very attractive, but I value my freedom more. So I reject your program. I will get my work done some other way, and support a project to develop a free replacement." If we value our freedom, we can act to maintain and defend it.

  37. Embrace, extract and extinguish by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Todays SJW, nerds and geeks seem to have missed the fun first part.
    Embrace. Its the fun and friendly part with the very best PR money can buy.
    Lots of SWJ terms and projects, funds and support.
    The extend part is not really about going to market. Something will be extracted for future use.
    Extinguish remains the final step.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  38. can I buy visio for linux yet? by Gunstick · · Score: 1

    has Microsoft brought out *any* product running on linux?

    --
    Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
    1. Re:can I buy visio for linux yet? by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 1

      SQL server 2017 is one.

  39. 99 comments to date by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and most of it still boils down to, "It's Microsoft. Don't trust them. They've done this before."

    Couldn't we have written that first and all gone home. Not that I disagree. I lit a candle for Miscrosoft when they tried to force the Washington State School Districts to buy a Windows licence for every machine in the system, even the Apples that could not run Windows.

  40. Embrace and Expand by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    also known as Engulf and Devour.
    Redmond...the home of stolen markets worldwide