Microsoft's Cloud Services banner at the Strata + Hadoop World booth in New YorkIt's no secret that Hadoop is a popular platform for Big Data . One of its key features is that it runs exclusively on the Linux operating system. However, this October, Microsoft launched Azure HDInsight , Microsoft's cloud-based Big Data platform using Hadoop—that is, Linux!
For many, this doesn't seem like big news; however, we have to go back to 2008, when Microsoft launched Windows Azure, referring to this service as Windows in the Cloud , allowing developers to create Windows applications that would run in Microsoft's data centers. In other words, it was presented as a PaaS (Platform as a Service).
In recent years we haven't heard much of the term Windows Azure; now they refer to Microsoft Azure, clearly leaving aside PaaS service plans and focusing on an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) scheme.
Despite the opinions of many, Microsoft has expressed its interest in (and even "love") Linux and other open-source technologies like Docker , even publicly acknowledging that over 20% of its servers use Linux.
We must acknowledge that since the arrival of its third CEO, Satya Nadella, Microsoft has undergone a significant shift in its approach to the Open Source community. Under the premise that Azure is the leading cloud platform, regardless of customer preferences or needs, the company has incorporated the ability to use Linux in most of its services, from virtualization to Big Data platforms.
These initiatives have managed to position Microsoft at the competitive level of platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google. Since each of these providers manages the Cloud with different approaches, each client must consider the strengths of each one of them for their choice, so restricting Azure only to Windows would have made it impossible for Microsoft to compete with these rivals.
Other Initiatives:
Microsoft's efforts to embrace new horizons do not end here.
The launch of Office applications on the Android and iOS mobile platforms, even before their own mobile operating system, has been removing the old barriers that tied everything to the products of the same supplier.
Additionally, the release of .NET has enabled the development of applications based on this framework for Linux and macOS operating systems. Similarly, they have provided free, cross-platform tools (including Linux) for .NET development, such as Visual Studio Code . Not to mention a free (and quite capable) version of their acclaimed development environment, Visual Studio Community 2015.
Have the major tech companies finally grasped the immense benefits of free software ? Or are there ulterior motives at play? Despite Microsoft's radical policy shifts, will open-source enthusiasts remain wary of the company?
Regardless of the answers to those questions, we must acknowledge the contribution made by Microsoft and continue to encourage more companies to join this cause.