14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft proudly announced earlier this week that it became a platinum member of The Linux Foundation, 15 years after its former CEO Steve Ballmer described Linux “as a cancer.”
And while this move makes sense for Microsoft, not everyone in the open-source world sees this as a beneficial step for Linux, especially because the Redmond-based technology giant has long been considered an enemy.
Opinions on Microsoft’s expansion in the open-source industry are still mixed, but as far as users who don’t agree with it are concerned, it might all come down to a broader effort of slowing down the growth of Linux and eventually killing it.
No conspiracy, he says
Although this certainly sounds like a huge conspiracy, Jim Zemlin, the executive director of the Linux Foundation, explained in an interview with CW that Microsoft is a completely different company now and it’s not at all interested in destroying Linux.
“First of all, when you join the Linux Foundation, you're obligated to support the mission of our organization, which is to support the growth of Linux and open source,” he was quoted as saying. “And Microsoft has not only committed to doing that as a part of our organization, but I've got to tell you, they're pretty much already doing it.”
“In a world where things are in the cloud, everybody has a computer, there is too much software to be written for even Microsoft, with all their engineers, to write it on their own. It ain't gonna happen.”
Joining The Linux Foundation as a platinum member is not the only thing that Microsoft is doing and the software giant previously tried to get closer to Linux by open-sourcing products such as .NET, PowerShell, and part of the engine that powers the new Edge browser.
Furthermore, Windows 10, which is one of Microsoft’s top products right now, comes with an Ubuntu subsystem, in what the company describes as an effort to bring together the two worlds.
Of course, there’s a big chance that Microsoft will continue expanding in the Linux world, so expect even more similar efforts to follow soon.