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 Channel Futures

Open Source


Linux for Workgroups and Microsoft’s Open Source Relationship

  • Written by Christopher Tozzi
  • July 18, 2013

Is Linux 20 years behind the curve compared to Microsoft Windows? Certainly not, but that's what things look like on the surface in the wake of Linus Torvalds's announcement of plans for Linux kernel version 3.11, otherwise known as "Linux for Workgroups." And that makes this a great moment to reflect upon how much the Microsoft-Linux relationship has evolved, and warmed, over the last two decades.

Is Linux 20 years behind the curve compared to Microsoft (MSFT) Windows? Certainly not, but that’s what things look like on the surface in the wake of Linus Torvalds’s announcement of plans for Linux kernel version 3.11, otherwise known as “Linux for Workgroups.” And that makes this a great moment to reflect upon how much the Microsoft-Linux relationship has evolved, and warmed, over the last two decades.

The Linux for Workgroups title—an homage to Windows 3.11, better known as Windows for Workgroups, which Microsoft released way back in August 1993—is the official code name Linux founder Linus Torvalds has bestowed upon Linux kernel 3.11. Linus also unveiled a new logo for Linux that harkens back to the old Windows 3.x splashscreens.

Linux 3.11, of course, will offer quite a few more features than Windows 3.11 provided 20 years ago. Chief among them are support for Intel’s Rapid Start Technology and superior power-saving capabilities for Radeon video cards.

But while Linux in general may still lack some features available in modern versions of Windows, and vice versa, drawing comparisons between the two operating systems is much more difficult today than it was a decade or two ago. The relationship between Microsoft and Linux has shifted fundamentally since then. Redmond is no longer so deeply at odds with the open source community.

To be sure, Microsoft and Linux still compete pretty heartily on the traditional server front, as well as for share of some parts of the virtualization market. But in other ways, they have evolved beyond their traditional deadlocked competitive relationship. For instance, making Linux a mainstream desktop operating system at Microsoft’s expense is no longer a priority for most open source developers, a fact Mark Shuttleworth highlighted in June when he declared Ubuntu’s “Bug #1” closed. And with OpenStack having come into its own, new paths have appeared for Linux and related open source platforms in cloud computing that don’t involve so much head-on competition with Microsoft.

This isn’t to say no one in the open source world would be sad to see Microsoft close shop and go out of business. But the willingness of leading open source developers to adopt a nickname for the core of Linux that pays homage to the historical importance of Windows symbolically highlights just how much the relationship between Microsoft and the Linux ecosystem has changed since the early years of the PC revolution—although it may be some time, one may hope, before we see the release of “Linux Vista.”

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Open Source

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13 comments

  1. Avatar Anonymous July 19, 2013 @ 2:08 am
    Reply

    God, no, not VISTA!
    God, no, not VISTA!

  2. Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri July 19, 2013 @ 8:41 pm
    Reply

    Windows 8.1 instead?
    Windows 8.1 instead?

  3. Avatar Anonymous July 21, 2013 @ 3:19 am
    Reply

    I took “Linux for Workgroups”
    I took “Linux for Workgroups” as mocking, not as an homage, of Windows.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 2, 2013 @ 9:21 pm
      Reply

      Agreed. -jp
      Agreed. -jp

  4. Avatar Anonymous July 21, 2013 @ 3:28 am
    Reply

    This was never homage and
    This was never homage and Linus is the last person to tell you there was any historical importance to windows 3.11 (except a negative one, that is…)

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 2, 2013 @ 9:22 pm
      Reply

      Ah, the old Windows for
      Ah, the old Windows for Warehouses release…
      -jp

  5. Avatar Jo-Erlend Schinstad July 21, 2013 @ 7:28 am
    Reply

    Bug #1 was primarily about
    Bug #1 was primarily about Microsofts dominance in personal computing, which used to be synonymous with PCs – desktops and laptops. Now we have tablets, phones, smart-tvs, etc, which must also be considered personal computing devices. On that arena, Microsoft _doesn’t_ have a majority market share. In other words, the bug was closed because it is no longer relevant.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 13, 2013 @ 7:46 pm
      Reply

      Let’s not forget Microsoft
      Let’s not forget Microsoft did a lot right on the server… freeing customers from expensive RISC servers…
      -jp

  6. Avatar Anonymouser July 21, 2013 @ 8:12 am
    Reply

    The relationship between
    The relationship between Microsoft and Linux has shifted fundamentally since then. Redmond is no longer so deeply at odds with the open source community.

    Yes, its like saying you and I are not at odds anymore except for me slandering you, sueing you, badmouthing you, slapping you around a bit too…
    but hey, were not at odds anymore!!

    its like the beaten wife syndrome, you keep telling yourself that its all alright now, that they love us.
    then the next lawsuit-black eye, well restart the whole story over and over….

    Well pretend Horatio Gutierrez does the work of the Lord while were at it.

    lets pretend the Android extortion (you know, to pay MS for all those patents that Linux and company steals for them) racket doesnt exist too.
    Now instead of threathening in public, its done mafia style in quiet and then protected by NDA’s.
    Lets pretend that by some estimates MS will make about $3.4 billion in Android royalty fees in 2013,…

    as long as you tell us that they really, really love us, then its got to be true.

    Until the next beating-shakedown-extortion.

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 13, 2013 @ 7:47 pm
      Reply

      So what’s the point of
      So what’s the point of Microsoft pushing WIndows Phone?
      -jp

  7. Avatar Anonymous July 21, 2013 @ 5:03 pm
    Reply

    Based on Torvalds’ past, my
    Based on Torvalds’ past, my take on the situation is that he’s rubbing Microsoft’s nose in it.

    Just wait to observe how much better Linux For Workgroups is than WFW.

    This naming was in no way a sop to Microsoft.

    “The idea that Bill Gates (Microsoft) is a knight in shining armour riding to the rescue of all of us caught in the quagmire and mess which is personal computing conveniently ignores the fact that it was he who, by selling second-rate technology, got us here in the first place.”

    paraphrase–Douglas Adams

  8. Avatar Eddie G. July 22, 2013 @ 3:55 pm
    Reply

    LOL! NO VISTA! As for the
    LOL! NO VISTA! As for the naming of the next Linux kernel, I don’t think Mr. Torvalds was “paying homage” as much as “poking fun” as Windows, the Windows For Workgroups while it was the creme-de-la-creme back then was still a buggy so-and-so that caused auite a few nightmares!..but for what it did at the time it was cutting edge, here’s to hoping that Linux and Windows NEVER combine!

    • Joe Panettieri Joe Panettieri August 13, 2013 @ 7:47 pm
      Reply

      Combine? Doubtful.
      -jp

      Combine? Doubtful.
      -jp

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