Re:Ubuntu, SUSE Linux, and Fedora Are All Coming to the Wind...
by toyg on Friday May 12, 2017 @08:18AM
(#14323299)
I think there is a distinction to make between developers of applications deployed on servers and deployed on desktops. I know the latter category is a dying breed, but still.
With WSL, developers targeting servers do have less of an incentive to port to Windows; but I'd argue that was the trend already, which is why MS is finally coming around.
On the other hand, developers targeting desktops now have more of an incentive to target Windows. A lot of early adopters and peers for these people are power users and other developers, who run Linux or Mac on their desktops as much as (if not more than) Windows. If more of these people move back to Windows because of WSL, desktop developers will have to consider Windows a priority again.
While a lot of the focus of "New MS" is on selling and promoting their cloud services, they are also interested in stemming the bleed on desktop. WSL helps a lot in that regard, IMHO; and as a side effect, it keeps developers on Windows: familiarity is always useful when it comes to peddle other Windows-based solutions. Win-win (for MS).
With WSL, developers targeting servers do have less of an incentive to port to Windows; but I'd argue that was the trend already, which is why MS is finally coming around.
On the other hand, developers targeting desktops now have more of an incentive to target Windows. A lot of early adopters and peers for these people are power users and other developers, who run Linux or Mac on their desktops as much as (if not more than) Windows. If more of these people move back to Windows because of WSL, desktop developers will have to consider Windows a priority again.
While a lot of the focus of "New MS" is on selling and promoting their cloud services, they are also interested in stemming the bleed on desktop. WSL helps a lot in that regard, IMHO; and as a side effect, it keeps developers on Windows: familiarity is always useful when it comes to peddle other Windows-based solutions. Win-win (for MS).