Microsoft

January 2019, #294: The Distributions Issue

Do you remember your first distro? The first version of Linux I truly used, for any length of time, was back at the end of the 1990s—in Ye Olden Times, when 56k modems, 3.5" floppies and VGA CRT monitors reigned supreme. Linux itself had been a thing for a number of years by this point—with both SUSE (then known as the gloriously mixed-case and punctuation-filled S.u.S.E.) and Red Hat doing good business supporting it—when I decided to really give this "Free" operating system a try. Because I'm a nerd. And that's what we do.

Reinventing Software Development and Availability with Open Source: an Interview with One of Microsoft Azure's Lead Architects

Microsoft was founded in 1975—that's 43 years ago and a ton of history. Up until the last decade, the company led a campaign against the Open Source and Free Software movements, and although it may have slowed the opposition, it did not bring it to an end. In fact, it emboldened its supporters to push the open-source agenda even harder. Fast-forward to the present, and open-source technologies run nearly everything—mobile devices, cloud services, televisions and more.

What Does "Ethical" AI Mean for Open Source?

Artificial intelligence is a threat—and an opportunity—for open source. It would be an understatement to say that artificial intelligence (AI) is much in the news these days. It's widely viewed as likely to usher in the next big step-change in computing, but a recent interesting development in the field has particular implications for open source. It concerns the rise of "ethical" AI.

Microsoft Buys GitHub: Three Weeks Later

I heard that Microsoft would be buying GitHub just a couple days before it happened when Carlie Fairchild at Linux Journal told me about it. I replied to the news with a solid, “Get! Out!” Needless to say, I had my doubts. As someone who remembers all too well the “Embrace, extend and extinguish" days of Microsoft, the news of this latest embrace did, however briefly, bring back those old memories.

Android Candy: My World, in a Lock Screen

It feels weird to mention a Microsoft product in Linux Journal. But to be honest, there are some cool things coming out of the Microsoft Garage One of those things is "Next Lock Screen", which is an Android app that brings interactive tools to the lock screen.

SQL Server on Linux

When Wim Coekaerts, Microsoft's vice president for open source, took the stage at LinuxCon 2016 in Toronto last summer, he came not as an adversary, but as a longtime Linux enthusiast promising to bring the power of Linux to Microsoft and vice versa. With the recent launch of SQL Server for Linux, Coekaerts is clearly having an impact.

smbclient Security for Windows Printing and File Transfer

Microsoft Windows is usually a presence in most computing environments, and UNIX administrators likely will be forced to use resources in Windows networks from time to time. Although many are familiar with the Samba server software, the matching smbclient utility often escapes notice.

From vs. to + for Microsoft and Linux

In November 2016, Microsoft became a platinum member of the Linux Foundation, the primary sponsor of top-drawer Linux talent (including Linus), as well as a leading organizer of Linux conferences and source of Linux news.

A Cool Project for Microsoft: Adopt Linux

"Do you know Linux? WE AE HIRING!" That's what billboards from HostGator have been saying for the past several years. That company is not alone. Demand for Linux talent is high and getting higher.

Oh Nokia, We Loved You So...

Nokia, we invited you into our house. We let you put your feet on the coffee table.  And yet this is how you treat us? Heck, we even tolerated the resistive screen on the N900, because it was a full blown Linux computer. We even put MeeGo on the cover of our March issue, and now you decide to defect to the dark side? Oh, Nokia...
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