This Year Microsoft Embraced eBPF, Debuted CBL-Mariner, Continued With WSL Features

[phoronix]

Phoronix: This Year Microsoft Embraced eBPF, Debuted CBL-Mariner, Continued With WSL Features

Each year it's interesting to see how Microsoft's usage and contributions around Linux and open-source evolve. In a short period of time they go from sponsoring coffee at LinuxTag to enabling .NET and more on Linux to now in 2021 having made public their CBL-Mariner Linux distribution, supporting more features like eBPF and IO_uring on Windows, and continue heavily investing in the Windows Subsystem for Linux...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Microsoft-Linux-OSS-2021

[tildearrow]

"Embraced"
Nice bait right there

You want somebody to say "extend and extinguish" now?

[Volta]

M$ polluting Linux. This needs to stop.

[jasonmicron]

How is Microsoft polluting Linux? Please list detailed examples.

I have to run Windows for work. But I mainly manage Linux environments. WSLg and Mariner have been excellent for my daily work tasks. Coupled with the revamped Terminal app on Windows 11, I can easily and quickly move between environments from the same launching point. This used to just be reserved for solutions like MobaXterm.

And Microsoft has been a heavy contributor to the kernel these last few years. I see no problem with any of this..

It isn't 1996 anymore, and Ballmer has been gone for years now.

[tildearrow]

How is Microsoft polluting Linux? Please list detailed examples.

I have to run Windows for work. But I mainly manage Linux environments. WSLg and Mariner have been excellent for my daily work tasks. Coupled with the revamped Terminal app on Windows 11, I can easily and quickly move between environments from the same launching point. This used to just be reserved for solutions like MobaXterm.

And Microsoft has been a heavy contributor to the kernel these last few years. I see no problem with any of this..

It isn't 1996 anymore, and Ballmer has been gone for years now.

Here's how.

By creating WSL, Microsoft hopes that launching Linux from Windows will be easier than installing it on bare-metal, therefore:

1. Killing any chance of success for Linux on desktop
2. Keeping the Windows Server users around as they see Linux as a better solution
3. On Windows: Linux app? No problem, just use WSL. It works.
4. On Linux: Windows app? No problem, just use Wine..... Oh wait, this doesn't run, that doesn't run either... ugh.
5. Conclusion? Windows runs Windows and Linux apps; Linux runs Linux and some Windows apps. Winner? Windows.

Killing Linux from inside ("Microsoft ❤ Linux") is easier than killing it from outside ("Linux is a cancer").

[jacob]

M$ polluting Linux. This needs to stop.

Linux is FOSS. That means everyone has the 4 freedoms to use it and adapt it to suit it to their needs. Everyone means everyone, not everyone except Microsoft.

[jacob]

1. Killing any chance of success for Linux on desktop

Not by a long shot. WSL is a mere convenience feature for Windows users. It doesn't address the fundamental reason why we need Linux on the desktop: With or without WSL, Windows is not FOSS, is laden with spyware and user-hostile.

2. Keeping the Windows Server users around as they see Linux as a better solution

All the better for everyone.

3. On Windows: Linux app? No problem, just use WSL. It works.

How is that worse than using windows-native versions of open source apps (VLC, Audacity, LO etc...)?

4. On Linux: Windows app? No problem, just use Wine..... Oh wait, this doesn't run, that doesn't run either... ugh.

Honestly lots of things actually do run with Wine.

5. Conclusion? Windows runs Windows and Linux apps; Linux runs Linux and some Windows apps. Winner? Windows.

If it was only about who has more apps, no-one would be using Linux at all, no-one would be using MacOS either. And because it's not the case, it goes to show that this is not how it works. People don't need an OS that offers zillions of apps, they need and OS that runs the few apps that they actually need. Then it comes down to which one can run them best. In many cases it's still Windows but the cases where Linux wins on the desktop for a given app do exist and they are growing.

Killing Linux from inside ("Microsoft ❤ Linux") is easier than killing it from outside ("Linux is a cancer").

More like "if you can't beat them, join them". Having Microsoft as a player in the ecosystem is certainly better than having it as an enemy. It's better for Linux and it's better for Microsoft.

[Nth_man]

Here's how.

By creating WSL, Microsoft hopes that launching Linux from Windows will be easier than installing it on bare-metal, therefore:

1. Killing any chance of success for Linux on desktop
2. Keeping the Windows Server users around as they see Linux as a better solution
3. On Windows: Linux app? No problem, just use WSL. It works.
4. On Linux: Windows app? No problem, just use Wine..... Oh wait, this doesn't run, that doesn't run either... ugh.
5. Conclusion? Windows runs Windows and Linux apps; Linux runs Linux and some Windows apps. Winner? Windows.

Killing Linux from inside ("Microsoft ❤ Linux") is easier than killing it from outside ("Linux is a cancer").

"Just like J++ was an attempt to EEE Java", as they wrote.

[numacross]

"Just like J++ was an attempt to EEE Java", as they wrote.

That was Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, for which they got sued by Sun and lost (settled).

[zexelon]

I do have to say that WSL2 on Win11 has officially blown my mind! I was running training VM's for GPU AI work but now with WSL2 running effectively seamlessly with CUDA everything is just so fluid and simple! I cant believe it, but I am starting to lean heavily to Win11 with WSL2.

The only issue I have seen so far is network performance of WSL2 is noticeably lower than bare metal and unfortunately it looks like I cannot pass through a NIC to WSL2, this is annoying.