Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

boxofcables.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 158 posts

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#131

Post by embedding-shape »

tossandthrow wrote: post #130
embedding-shape wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if I understand what you're saying, if someone asks you "Hey, could you recommend me a general purpose Linux distribution?", you'd recommend them Ubuntu Server rather than just straight up Ubuntu? I'd agree both could be used in a general-purpose way, but I'd definitively call one of them more general-purpose than the other.

If they need a general purpose distro for a server, absolutely. That would likely be a better recommendation than android.

But that wasn't the question, what they ask is specifically "Hey, could you recommend me a general purpose Linux distribution?", would you still first recommend Ubuntu Server?

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#132

Post by 2b3a51 »

pepperoni_pizza wrote: post #79
ramon156 wrote: post #38

How desperate is Microsoft right now? Their model website was trying hard to be Anthropic, now they claim they have a linux distro? Which is just a tuned version? What's next?

I don't think it's desperate. I'm thinking companies are now paying for Red Hat license and support on Azure VMs and Microsoft wants that money. It's an easy thing for Microsoft sales guy to offer to your bosses' bosses' boss next time they're golfing and having expensive dinner together, "hey you can get your Linux also from us, it will save you money by consolidating vendors and whatnot". I expect many companies wi…

But if people are paying for RHEL they won't be using Fedora for production workloads will they?

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#133

Post by 2b3a51 »

olavgg wrote: post #80
speedgoose wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's from Microsoft. Many companies love to be very tightly tied to Microsoft, for some reasons. I never really understood the actual underlying reasons. Perhaps Windows 95 was that good and it's brand loyalty since.

When I look at the oil & gas sector, I remember MS-DOS + Wordperfect was the beginning. Then Windows 3.1 + Microsoft Office took over, and since that, its been Microsoft, Azure, and SAP. They refuse Google Cloud, AWS, and many still believe open-source is cancer. They are Microsofts best customers. They prefer consultants over hiring software developers, and the consultants just to what they're told and never questio…

Oil and gas? Dinosaurs? Can see the connection. Good luck with it next time you are with them.

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#134

Post by philistine »

warumdarum wrote: post #33
kenjackson wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s already no longer their golden goose. It’s about 6% of total revenue (see http://bullfincher.io/companies/microsoft-corporation/revenu... ). Microsoft could give Windows away for free and be fine. Of course it’s still a lot of money, so they’re not going to leave a multibillion dollar business on the table. But strategically, preserving its revenue is not their priority.

How many percent of their revenue funel are dependent directly or indirectly on windows beeing the peoples workstation funneling them towards their subpar products?

In the Enterprise, they'll fight tooth and nail to maintain that synergy. In the small business and consumer markets, people are having a very slow divorce from Windows, and Microsoft is well aware. MS365 is an ok product and can absolutely thrive on its own without Windows.

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#135

Post by fortran77 »

cbdevidal wrote: post #125
trumpdong wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a distro is the opposite of an application

Correct, but who 25 years ago could have imagined they’d have gone so far as to roll their own? I remember the Balmer days. But the fact that they’re rolling a distro tells me they’re likely also writing software for Linux. I’m sure their Azure Linux contains apps they wrote and maintain, used by the OS. Then there’s Microsoft apps on Android, with Linux under the covers.

I develop C#/F# applications in Windows that run on Mac OS, iOS, Linux, and Windows. It's by far the best environment for this sort of thing. You can get native performance in a much lighter environment than those crappy electron apps.

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#136

Post by tossandthrow »

embedding-shape wrote: post #131
tossandthrow wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they need a general purpose distro for a server, absolutely. That would likely be a better recommendation than android.

But that wasn't the question, what they ask is specifically "Hey, could you recommend me a general purpose Linux distribution?", would you still first recommend Ubuntu Server?

Sure, why not?

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#137

Post by panny »

rswail wrote: post #109

OK, so this is important not because it comes from Microsoft. 1. It's general purpose in that it is designed to be used to deliver any application software, whether containerized, on a VM or on (specific) bare hardware. 2. It has an SBOM that allows all elements of the distribution when run as a container/VM/bare to have an auditable chain back to the Fedora distribution, which then has a chain back to the source. So…

>OK, so this is important not because it comes from Microsoft.

No, it IS important because it comes from Microsoft.

>If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won. - Linus Torvalds

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine this would happen. Microsoft spent a decade trying to kill Linux via SCO lawfare. Linux has won. Microsoft is completely and utterly defeated.

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#138

Post by endemic »

panny wrote: post #137
rswail wrote: post #109

OK, so this is important not because it comes from Microsoft. 1. It's general purpose in that it is designed to be used to deliver any application software, whether containerized, on a VM or on (specific) bare hardware. 2. It has an SBOM that allows all elements of the distribution when run as a container/VM/bare to have an auditable chain back to the Fedora distribution, which then has a chain back to the source. So…

>OK, so this is important not because it comes from Microsoft. No, it IS important because it comes from Microsoft. >If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won. - Linus Torvalds Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine this would happen. Microsoft spent a decade trying to kill Linux via SCO lawfare. Linux has won. Microsoft is completely and utterly defeated.

> Microsoft is completely and utterly defeated.

All the way to the bank, apparently.

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#139

Post by thesuperbigfrog »

joxdosba wrote: post #128
thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Linux server distributions would be expected to be headless. "General purpose" Linux distributions (not "server") typically would include a GUI desktop.

A GUI Linux distribution feels vastly more niche than a headless one.

Really?

What are some major Linux distributions that are only headless?

What is the market share of those Linux distributions compared to Linux distributions that have a GUI desktop?

Re: Azure Linux 4.0 is Microsoft's first general-purpose Linux

#140

Post by redmonduser »

nullpoint420 wrote: post #2

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish anyone? Although, as a Fedora user I'm happy it's RPM based.

It's too late to embrace, extend and extinguish and Microsoft has moved past that era. I think this is an attempt to gate keep the inclusion of opensource libraries in the distribution that have contributions from unverified users and potential state actors.
Post reply on HN