Why would MS acquire Ubuntu when they could just spin their own distro? What does Ubuntu have to offer to justify what would likely be a massive premium over just hiring whatever developer shortfall they may have?

You could make the exact same argument about Red Hat.

Ubuntu's (and by extension Canonical's) value is in its brand and existing customer relationships, neither of which Microsoft would have if they rolled their own distro.

You're serious right now? You think if Microsoft released Microsoft Linux tomorrow they wouldnt have brand recognition?

I know there's a lot of MS hate around here, but that's ridiculous. Literally everyone would know what Microsoft Linux was within a month. It would be a headline on every tech site across the internet.

They would have brand recognition, but it might be of the negative kind. Whereas Ubuntu is a venerable known brand.

Besides, I just suggested one potentil buyer, I want to hear who else besides boring answers like Google.

>They would have brand recognition, but it might be of the negative kind.

Outside of the people who are going to hate MS no matter what, I don't know what reasonable CIO would have a negative connotation of MS Linux. They ALREADY maintain multiple branches/distros internally for things like their network OS; and anyone older than a millennial should know they wrote Xenix which was one of the most successful UNIX variants ever sold...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Linux_distributions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix

I'd say that any CIO with a bit of savvy would think twice before betting too heavy on a Microsoft Linux product, at least while Windows is still a thing in the eyes of Microsoft. Should Windows really be relegated to the annals of history this might change but until that time it'd be unwise to assume Microsoft would allow its Linux distribution to become a potential replacement for its Windows products, the simple reason being that Linux can be had elsewhere.

I'm sure somebody will think along the lines of "they are selling me Linux with support now, maybe they'll find a way to force me buy Windows in a few years". Embrace, extend, estinguish. I'm not trusting Microsoft, which has its own OS, not to play tricks like that.

You are in "hipster news", they have their own reality with no knowledge of actual IT trends.

Microsoft Linux is my most favorite oxymoron now