I willing to bet that this is greeted with skepticism and doubt.
Originally shared by Danie van der Merwe
Microsoft is now the top organisation with the most open source contributors on Github
What a difference 15 years makes. Back in 2001, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was busy branding Linux "a cancer" during the height of the software giant's domination of desktop computing. Fast forward to 2016 and you'll find Microsoft confessing its love for everything open source and Linux. It's a stunning turnaround that's now backed up by Microsoft's serious attention to the open source world. Microsoft is now the top organization with the most open source contributors on Github (see http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux). It beats Facebook, Docker, Google, Apache, and many other competitors.
Recent moves include the open sourcing of PowerShell, Visual Studio Code, and Microsoft Edge's JavaScript engine. Microsoft also partnered with Canonical to bring Ubuntu to Windows 10, and acquired Xamarin to aid mobile app development. Microsoft even open sourced Xamarin's SDKs and developer tools, and brought SQL Server to Linux.
Yes many in the open source community have never forgotten what happened 15 years ago, and even more recently in the last few years.... but contributing code to Github is more than many companies or governments do, although they may be big users of open source software. Actions are certainly starting to speak on Microsoft's behalf. Personally I'd be a lot happier though if they meaningfully supported compliance ODF formats as well. I have some reservations still about proprietary formats stuck in a cloud.
See http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/15/12926288/microsoft-really-does-love-linux
I appreciate the skepticism and doubt. And I'm certainly no friend of Microsoft's. That said, Windows 10 does have a Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is really Ubuntu using Windows low-level APIs. I never thought there'd be a day when Windows and Ubuntu would play nicely, and yet here we are.
ReplyDeleteMore details: https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/03/30/run-bash-on-ubuntu-on-windows/#0Hq5MoGfAW3031P5.97
I know what you mean. A few years back my PCs were double boots using Ubuntu. But two things put me off that - UNITY, and an increasing rhetoric I saw from Ubuntu supporters/developers about "evil propriety software" that was partially used in Ubuntu somehow. Must have changed.
ReplyDeleteLaura Ess There are still purists who insist on no proprietary code in Linux. The rest of us shrug and install NVIDIA's drivers and get on with life. :D
ReplyDeleteYep.
ReplyDelete