Yes, you read that correctly, this is not a joke in bad taste or a preview of April Fool's Day. Microsoft is now a full member of the Linux foundation, something that until very recently seemed impossible, a real contradiction.
However, thanks to the latest behaviors that Microsoft has had in recent years, really this is not as surprising as it seems. Since people like Satya Nadella is in charge of Microsoft, this company has thrown much more for free software, establishing alliances with operating systems such as Ubuntu or even creating your own distribution, Microsoft Azure.
Also, this is not a regular membership, since Microsoft has become part of the select group of platinum members, a group that has as members prestigious companies such as Intel, Huawei, Samsung, IBM and Cisco among others.
With this union, it is confirmed that the war between Microsoft and the Linux foundation has been buried for the moment, showing that free software and Microsoft can coexist in peace and help each other instead of trying to destroy each other.
Undoubtedly great news that has caught many by surprise, but others not so much, since Azure and alliances with Ubuntu they are only a small part of how involved Microsoft is now in the issue of free software. For example, agreements have been made with the large company SUSE, the browser has been integrated Edge on Linux and has also been created SQL Server for Linux among many other news.
I really believe this union benefits everyone, since although many people do not like Windows or anything that has to do with the Redmond company, it is undoubtedly a great company that can offer great financial support to the foundation and therefore make the Linux world go away benefited.
I think Microsoft sees it as the phrase "keep your friends close, but much closer to your enemies"
They couldn't from the outside and then they would try from the inside.
the truth is that the damage they can do from within is great.
this gives me a bad feeling,
What the hell does mocosoft give us? nothing at all, because the truth is I don't understand it.
It will be a matter of the GNU / HURD project being stable now!
What microsft wants is to migrate its windows server to the linux kernel. Time will prove me right!
I agree with what has been said and it bothers me that the issue of our rejection of Microsoft is trivialized, apart from misinterpreting it. The problem with Microsoft is that its philosophy is diametrically opposed to that of free software, which is reflected in the fact that even its "free" or compatible Gnu / Linux products have PRIVATE licenses. This constant penetration of Microsoft in the free software environment is only intended to gain acceptance by those who came to this world without understanding its philosophy and its ethical importance, that is why I always say «the FSF does not screw with that issue for fucking, it is that it is the central point of free software, to defend freedom, not to allow technological slavery ». But unfortunately it is thought that freedom is to allow anything, even the deprivation of freedom itself and they call us extremists, now at this rate we are going to have a "Free" environment full of exclusive alternatives, which is going to lead people to stupidly claiming that proprietary software is free is because it works on Gnu / Linux.
PDT: I am a developer in a Microsoft partner company and a faithful Gnu / Linux user in my home with my family and I would never use in my home what I develop in this company, I prefer to continue making my development contributions to one or another project of free software.
When the first nettop came out with their hot atom, to reduce costs they came out with light GNU / Linux distros, some shortly after buying them I formatted them and installed win xp (without their win they cannot live), others instead gave them a chance. Distros that came from origin and found that they worked as well or better than with windows.
In Microsoft they saw the ears of the wolf (I think), potential customers would see that they could do the same as with Windows, cheaper and customizable. Answer, extend the support of an OS that they thought to retire "win xp" for many more years, lower the licenses for equipment assemblers to prices never seen before and be able to compete with the cheap ones with GNU / Linux.
Large pc assemblers are pressured to only install win, the few that try to get out of the yoke fall back shortly.
Recently in full boom of android, stream and raspberry pis, when they release their new win 9, sorry win 10;), they put the update for free from not only win 8 but already the old win 7, something unprecedented in window $.
Now they become members of the Linux Foundation ……. I don't know, has their hearts softened, this "NGO" called Micro $ oft? hehehehehehe.