I don't think you know what you're talking about, or maybe you're just not phrasing it in a way that I can't properly ingest. Azure Linux isn't required if you

I don't think you know what you're talking about, or maybe you're just not phrasing it in a way that I can't properly ingest. Azure Linux isn't required if you want Linux on Azure, just like Amazon Linux isn't required if you want Linux on AWS. Also, Microsoft are all-in on cloud stuff; this is where they are placing their bets. accordingly, Windows server and client operating system strategy are not designed to lock you in any longer, certainly not like they were 20 years ago. It was awful when they were, and they don't really care much about those in comparison to the past. Microsoft want you to be a Microsoft 365 customer and they want you to be an Azure customer. You can natively run lots of Linux distributions inside Windows, which cleanly integrate with the host Windows OS and Microsoft promote this as a first-class way to develop software for Linux and Windows. This is the opposite of lock-in. Azure Linux is a Linux you might choose if you are already on Azure. You are not required to use Azure Linux when using Azure, or anything else. "oh no, Microsoft have released a free Linux distro and are abiding by license terms!! LOCK IN!!" Come on.