Plenty of pundits say the cloud runs on Linux. Heck, even Microsoft appears to be gearing up to support Linux in the cloud — sort of. The specifics: Microsoft is preparing to “enable” Linux to run on Windows Azure — though it doesn’t sound like Microsoft will officially offer “support” for Linux on Windows Azure.
The Linux-on-Windows-Azure chatter comes from All About Microsoft, the popular blog penned by Mary Jo Foley. Her sources have been solid over the years; I trust Foley’s reporting.
Mixed News for Microsoft Cloud Partners?
Still, I’m not sure if “enabling” Linux on Windows Azure will be a win for channel partners and customers. Most of the major public cloud services providers — Amazon Web Services, Rackspace Cloud, etc. — already support both Windows and Linux in the cloud. And Microsoft’s approach to Linux in the cloud doesn’t sound very compelling to me. Foley writes:
“Running Linux on Azure has been a surprisingly big business-customer request, as well, my contacts said. Microsoft won’t be supporting Linux once the late-March persistent VM CTP launches; instead, it will be up to customers to provide uploads of their own Linux images, I heard from my contacts. Microsoft plans to tout the persistent VM capability on Azure as providing users with an easy on-ramp to its cloud platform, as they can start with the apps they already have and host them without a lot of reworking.”
For Linux to really succeed on Windows Azure, Microsoft must truly support Linux on Azure. A halfhearted Microsoft effort, pushing Linux support back to customers, could ultimately send partners and customers to alternative clouds, Talkin’ Cloud believes.
Still, it’s a bit early to speculate about how Linux on Windows Azure may — or may not — work. Microsoft has yet to publicly confirm or deny the Linux enablement plans. Plus, Microsoft does have reasonably good integration partnerships with both SUSE and Red Hat. Surely, Microsoft could extend those Linux partnerships into the Windows Azure cloud — assuming Microsoft really wants to give customers what they want.
Talkin’ Cloud has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
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The whole time I’m reading this article, I’m thinking, “Who cares if they ‘allow’ access to Linux? Seriously, how many of us are going to pay M$ to use their system?
I’ll spend my dollars to support those who help me cut those ties rather than give them to Microsoft.
Hi Jeffery,
Thanks for reading TalkinCloud. I realize some readers agree with your perspective. There certainly are companies that prefer a pure Linux approach while migrating away from Windows Server and Unix.
But I also believe there are numerous CIOs who have embraced a Linux-Windows on premise data center strategy. Those CIOs may be inclined to evaluate a similar strategy in the Azure cloud… if Microsoft “supports” Linux. Cloud integrators should therefore watch this potential effort closely.
-jp
Another thought here surrounds the accusation by Microsoft over IP/patent infringement in Linux. Would that mean that issue has been (legally) rectified? Might be the reason for such a hands off approach.
I wish some corporation, say Google, had the guts to take Microsoft on and clear up the patent infringement allegations once and for all. It would be of enormous benefit to computing in general if this issue were laid to rest.
When Microsoft squared off with Lindows (2002) it didn’t find the court too sympathetic to its claims.
BlackMagic,
Thanks for your readership and for your comment. Let’s assume Google does take on Microsoft. What type of court case do you think would potentially unfold?
-jp
It could go either of two ways, depending on Google’s philosophy. It could be limited to the specifics of Microsoft’s claims. I believe one of them is that Microsoft owns the algorithm for file access on disk drives.
Or the case could strike at the validity of software patents in general, which I think would be much more useful. Google might not share this view because software patents, ridiculous though some of them are, provide a return on investment for firms that generate a lot of code, whether it’s open source or not.
The Lindows case was settled when Microsoft, having lost the argument that it alone could use the word ‘Windows’ to describe its operating system, threw about $20 million on the table and bought off the smaller company. Any new case should be prepared to open Microsoft’s alleged patents to public scrutiny.
BlackMagic,
Thanks for coming back to share those potential scenarios. We’ll keep watching the situation.
-jp