4 ms·

The developers' word is irrelevant. Microsoft is a business. Microsoft will pursue its long term business interests. Developers are hired to do what the busines

The developers' word is irrelevant. Microsoft is a business. Microsoft will pursue its long term business interests. Developers are hired to do what the business directs. So the question is really, "what would best serve Microsoft's business interests?" and not "what do the developers intend?" because in time only one question matters and unfortunately it's not the one with the best interests of non-windows-users in mind.

Rusky 6y ago
The developers' intent does align with Microsoft's current interests -- as you say, they are hired to do what the business directs. Perhaps their interests will shift in the future, as they clearly have in the past. But the things they build now are not from the "extend" phase of an EEE arc. At worst they are in the "embrace" phase.
- bigbizisverywyz 6y ago
  Embrace phase sounds about right. If MS make it as easy to run desktop apps on Windows as it is on Linux, then the question of why even run a dedicated Linux machine if you can do everything on Windows? becomes relevant. I suppose clipboard integration already works? And drag n' drop? Once that mindset is heavily entrenched (e.g. in Enterprises), then the extend phase can begin. I don't think MS are as scared as they were previously when Linux started to dominate the server landscape, and swathes of new developers (especially web backend) moved to a java, ROR and Python (or LAMP), where MS were absolutely nowhere in the stack.
ToFab123 6y ago
The initial implementation of WSL was not mandated by the business. it was created by the developers that were tasked with exploring how to run Android apps (on the ms phone) and they went bananas and invented and created WSL. First later the business side of Microsoft came in to play on wsl
- skohan 6y ago
  It doesn't matter where it came from. WSL is owned by MS, and the most rational framework to predict how they will use it is that they will attempt to leverage it to support their business interests. MS is not in the business of paying developers to give away nice things for free.
zamalek 6y ago
> Microsoft will pursue its long term business interests. Just like all positive sum games, open source is in everyone's interests, including Microsoft's. Egoistic alturism: serving your own interests [through] serving everyone else's interests. All the people here railing on how Microsoft is destroying open source clearly don't understand the very premise of the thing that they think they are defending.

Rusky 6y ago

The developers' intent does align with Microsoft's current interests -- as you say, they are hired to do what the business directs. Perhaps their interests will shift in the future, as they clearly have in the past. But the things they build now are not from the "extend" phase of an EEE arc. At worst they are in the "embrace" phase.

bigbizisverywyz 6y ago
Embrace phase sounds about right. If MS make it as easy to run desktop apps on Windows as it is on Linux, then the question of why even run a dedicated Linux machine if you can do everything on Windows? becomes relevant. I suppose clipboard integration already works? And drag n' drop? Once that mindset is heavily entrenched (e.g. in Enterprises), then the extend phase can begin. I don't think MS are as scared as they were previously when Linux started to dominate the server landscape, and swathes of new developers (especially web backend) moved to a java, ROR and Python (or LAMP), where MS were absolutely nowhere in the stack.

ToFab123 6y ago

The initial implementation of WSL was not mandated by the business. it was created by the developers that were tasked with exploring how to run Android apps (on the ms phone) and they went bananas and invented and created WSL. First later the business side of Microsoft came in to play on wsl

skohan 6y ago
It doesn't matter where it came from. WSL is owned by MS, and the most rational framework to predict how they will use it is that they will attempt to leverage it to support their business interests. MS is not in the business of paying developers to give away nice things for free.

zamalek 6y ago

> Microsoft will pursue its long term business interests. Just like all positive sum games, open source is in everyone's interests, including Microsoft's. Egoistic alturism: serving your own interests [through] serving everyone else's interests. All the people here railing on how Microsoft is destroying open source clearly don't understand the very premise of the thing that they think they are defending.