If you would have told me 10 years ago that by 2019 Microsoft would have first-party support in Visual Studio for cross-platform development on Mac and Linux, created a Linux subsystem so users could run Linux natively on Windows, and their CEO would be in attendance at a Red Hat conference, I would have said you are crazy. Interesting times, indeed.

and in the near future you'll have the full linux kernel in that subsystem

Also while embracing Open Source they are also making record profits.

MS thank you for VS Code - I never thought I would replace my Vim.

Tbh...VS Code was/is a game changer for software development.

I also love how Azure products work so seamlessly with it. Almost magical.

When I discovered VS Code a few months ago (I'm a hobbyist just getting into coding, not a professional) after many recommendations from friends who code and are die-hard open source true-believers, I did a legitimate doubletake after reading the name of the company that developed it.

I then spent an hour researching it, trying to find out what the catch was. Was the wikipedia page entry a prank? Was I getting some kind of malware masquerading as a pro development tool? Was is a temporary trial before big licensing fees were demanded of me? Does it need some sort expensive companion server that only runs on Windows Server? What's the catch?

But no, no catch. It's free, and it's open, and it works great. But every time I launch it I feel like I've walked into some weird alternate dimension. I have to remind myself that yes, this is reality: I'm using a native-Linux, fast, reliable, extensible, MIT-licensed editor made by freakin' Microsoft. So strange, man. So strange.

... except perhaps for the Microsoft telemetry that is active in the distributed VScode binaries [1]?

To quote user ilaksh in this thread: "They will set it up so that it will _seem_ like your are developing for Linux, but due to some extensions or technicality it will only work on _Linux inside of Windows_.

So from my perspective it is amazing that people think this is a good thing for Linux."

There are good historic reasons to distrust M$.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18209082

I did see and disable the telemetry option in the preferences the first time I used it, and so far it seems to behave itself and not quietly re-enable telemetry.

This is what I am talking about ... Developers, developers, developers : Ballmer was right about that but he though he should only care about .Net and MSFT products and fight everything else. The Nadella model is we don't care what you use, where or how : if you're making software we want to help you ... with this buying services from MSFT is not the goal per se but a consequence

I think Balmer lost vision of what a "platform" truly is. Microsoft understood this in the 90's with Windows, forgot it in the 00's under Balmer and seems to be recapturing it heading into the 2020's. They could be a huge force again by the end of next decade.

What's keeping you on Azure?

What's the alternative?

And it works. I find myself pitching Azure to my web dev clients, partly because I can deploy my C# project directly to an Azure Web App with a single button inside Visual Studio.

He's loving linux to death.

Didn't some documents leak showing a Microsoft Evangelist killing Apple centric conferences?

I know Microsoft tried to kill Linuxfest Northwest a few years back, sponsoring it and taking control of 1/3 of the floor space, both approved afterpartys, etc. This year they had a small booth that was staffed for one of the two days...

Where is this coming from? I was the one organizing this sponsorship.

Just what I observed that year, it reminded me of this: http://techrights.org/2009/07/15/ms-technical-evangelists-li...

Most of the people I know stopped going to LFNW after the shitshow that was that year, they still attend SeaGL and other conventions.

The exploding can of WD-40 that MS handed out that year was the cherry on top of the hijacking of the main space, fake Azure credits, and poorly run afterparty that MS put on.

Frankly, MS should not have been allowed to hijack LFNW that year. This year MS was the only booth to not staff on Sunday, I'd hope LFNW doesn't waste table space next year.

Citation?

I'm hearing this sentiment more and more frequently.

I, however, don't see him doing anything to that "broken model." Since Ballmer left, Microsoft actually got even more dependent on plumpy "corporate" clients. It just people who once self hosted AD now got upsold on running their AD and other corporate software on Azure.

Your claim about MS not focusing on their retail side might be accurate, but that in and of itself doesn't really mean anything. The stock market (i know .. i know.. ) seems to have accepted MS's "broken" model, and its stock price has tripled (or something like that) under Nadella. Certainly, its not a company that people seem to think is broken in any mainstream way of thinking about a business.

> The stock market (i know .. i know.. ) seems to have accepted MS's "broken" model, and its stock price has tripled (or something like that) under Nadella

Well, as it did under Ballmer, under same circumstances. He also did pretty much the same — doubling down on milking plumpy corporate clients while streamlining the business in overall + doing some disasterous acquisitions which were nevertheless welcomed by Wall street analysts

Well, I don't know what you are referring to as "it", but the stock price movement wasn't the same under Ballmer...which might be a bit unfair to him since he came in after the .com boom. https://imgur.com/a/46fnc4P

>He also did pretty much the same — doubling down on milking plumpy corporate clients while streamlining the business in overall

I take it you think that this is a bad thing?