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Windows Server 2019 Will Feature Linux and Kubernetes Support (venturebeat.com)
Microsoft announced this week that it will launch the next major release of Windows Server later this year with better support for hybrid workloads, Linux workloads, and hyper-converged infrastructure. From a report: This release will succeed Windows Server 2016, which was made generally available in October 2016. While Microsoft moved to twice-yearly updates for Windows Server starting last year, the company bundles those changes into a long-term servicing channel once every two or three years for administrators who prefer less frequent releases. Those companies that haven't moved over to the semi-annual channel will get their first taste of Windows Server's Linux and Kubernetes support, which are currently in beta.
What the hell would I want this for?
You wouldn't. Others will.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
Why not just run Linux, the better OS, in the first place and when absolutely required (although rarely needed), run Windows Server in a VM?
Cloud computing for telco (OpenStack) technical trainer here:
A few reasosn why this makes sense:
Running Linux on top of Windows/Server Hyper-V
There are shops which are "Mostly windows" for historical reasons. For them is cheaper to run windows through and thorough, and only when "absolutely required, but rarely needed" run linux in a VM. The alternative is to retrain the workforce, and that has costs measures in $, time and resistance to change.
If your organization has the proper licensing scheme, Hyper-V is free (as in beer), while the "Certified Kosher/Halal Linux" virtualization solutions (Xen and KVM) cost a pretty penny, and the market leader solution (VMWare) cost more Still. So, even if your company is a Mostly linux shop, if you have the propper licensing, it may be less expensive to use Hyper-V, than the linux solutions available.
In some environments (in particular, regulated environments), linux is costly (windows is costly too, of course), because you can only use the "Propper Linuxes", RedHat, Suse, and to a lesser extent Ubuntu and Debian. Other things will lack support from the hardware maker propper certification (think PCI, not the bus/slot, the certification). So, is not like you can go and use a linux OS/virtualization solution based on a Gentoo roll your own distro + Bochs + QEMU. So, the cost advantage of linux becomes less of a draw.
In particular, if you want (or worse, are forced by internal/external regulation to) have support, red hat forces you to buy support for every single instance of redhat running in your environment, and not for select instances only...
Running Linux apps inside Windows:
In windows heavy shops, for administrators that come from an unix background, or can not grasp the power of Powershell, this is a boon.
If an app you want to run (in the broad sense, from a propper ELF executable, to a measly shell script) is only available in windows, cool, you can go for it without firing a Linux VM
Running Dockers containers in Windows:
As docker gains traction, more apps will be developed as a set of containers. Microsot would rather you run those apps on their OS, especially for customers who are Windows Heavy, than cede the market, or try to develop their own.
Hybrid Cloud:
If you want to make Hybrid Cloud, whith seamless movement of workloads from private to public and back, the pecking order is Azure, then Openstack, and VMware a distant third.
These are a few of the reasons why this makes sense, I am certain many in Slashdot can think of others.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!