Microsoft Is Writing Its Own Wayland Compositor As Part Of WSL2 GUI Efforts

[mos87]

Now it all makes sense! We've been had!
(again)

[Volta]

Seriously I think MS have already evolved. Times have changed, today they make big $$$ from Linux and FOSS in general and they are not stupid to try to destroy it.

They can always try to pollute it with closed source code and their 'standards'.

[CochainComplex]

As mentioned by others in multiple recent MS News threads...here we go. Extent

[Chewi]

I like this. To be honest, it's more or less how I would have done it too. This is something I can easily see myself using for work, given that I currently use QEMU (previously VirtualBox) on Windows and the performance is pretty poor. I'm also the package maintainer for Weston on Gentoo so it's strange for me to see these two previously unrelated things come together like this.

[lowlands]

I just wish Microsoft made it possible to write cross-platform GUI applications on .NET Core that works on Linux. It is possible today with the third-party framework Avalonia. But it would be nice if it was officially supported in any way, such as Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or UWP or WinUI.

I doubt they will. Follow the money: if they made it cross platform then why would you pay Microsoft for a Windows desktop license when you can run your applications on Linux? Remember, they are funding their Azure datacenters and other very expensive projects from their Windows cash-flow monopoly. Anything that could jeopardize that is nixed.

[Azrael5]

Microsoft has understood the potentiality of Linux provided by Wayland and is going to realize the bets Linux operating system. After this project is realized the market sharing of Linux OS will be reduced to the 0,1%. It's the natural aftermath of age-old ineptitude and fragmentation of linux developers.

[CochainComplex]

Yeah, killing Xorg means kills steam (and all the games on Linux).

only if you have nvidia

[lowlands]

Seriously I think MS have already evolved. Times have changed, today they make big $$$ from Linux and FOSS in general and they are not stupid to try to destroy it.

The margins on cloud services are thin so they are not making big $$$ from Linux. Gross revenue? sure. Net profits? Not so much. We can thank AWS and Google for preventing Microsoft from getting another monopoly. There are more Linux VMs running on Azure than Windows instances and that's actually a threat to them. Every Linux VM means they are missing out on a Windows taxed VM.

The thing is that if Microsoft had not decided to support Linux on Azure, they would never have been as big as they are today. Their customers forced them to evolve (support Linux and cut the crap or else) but that does not mean they like, appreciate or really support the direction they were forced into. Can they destroy Linux? No (thank $deity). Do they want to? Well, culture is a pesky thing and I'm not convinced that the toxic anti-Linux stance from the Gates/Ballmer era has evolved into something better. So do check the Trojan horse when it knocks on your door.

[SWY1985]

I'm sort of excited about Microsoft integrating Linux into their OS. It's not like they're taking over Linux development. I also know that most serious Linux users will not move on to Windows. Those who will move (back) to Windows, or are forced to use Windows for work, will be able to get a familiar taste of Linux while they're there. Just like we've had Wine for ages to run Windows software.

I am glad that, for my work, I am able to use my work computer as I see fit. Nothing beats the intuitivity and productivity I get on my ever evolving Sway setup. I welcome the tools Microsoft is making available, but I don't depend on them.

Microsoft will not be able to stop Linux development. What are you all afraid of? Can someone explain to me how any of this is in any way bad for Linux, without using the words "Embrace", "Extend", "Extinguish" and "Micro$oft"?

[bezirg]

Yes, more "extend" is coming. I wonder, does anybody here remember Silverlight? That was also supposed to be "cross-platform" (but closed-source). The reality kicked in and showed us how much cross-platform it was.

And no, wayland is just a protocol and there are many implementations out there which work just fine.