Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Microsoft Teams is now available on Linux

By - | Views: 39,981

Available in public preview, Microsoft just added Linux support for their unified communication and collaboration platform Microsoft Teams.

Starting today, Microsoft Teams is available for Linux users in public preview, enabling high quality collaboration experiences for the open source community at work and in educational institutions. Users can download the native Linux packages in .deb and .rpm formats here. We are constantly improving based on community feedback, so please download and submit feedback based on your experience.

The Microsoft Teams client is the first Office app that is coming to Linux desktops, and will support all of Teams’ core capabilities. Teams is the hub for teamwork that brings together chat, video meetings, calling, and collaboration on Office 365 documents and business processes within a single, integrated experience.

Marissa Salazar, Microsoft

This isn't just appearing out of nowhere though, Microsoft has been working with select companies (like Volvo Cars) over the course of a few months with the Linux client of Teams. It seems there was enough interest to bring it over to Linux. Sounds like a similar story with Unity, when they officially announced the Linux Editor being in Preview a few months ago due to increasing demand. You can find the official announcement here.

Not gaming news of course but we do often cover lots of Linux-related cool stuff. It's good to see Microsoft begin to slowly change and accept Linux, even using it themselves and integrating it into Windows with the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Heck, even their new web browser Edge is going to be coming to Linux. Every step like this, brings down another barrier for developers of all kinds using Linux, don't underestimate the importance of it.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
25 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
49 comments
Page: «4/5»
  Go to:

BielFPs Dec 10, 2019
Quoting: ShmerlIt's not really about the money (DirectX). It's about controlling the developers, i.e. mindshare. As long as developers are stuck with MS lock-in, it's costly for them to release anything for other platforms. I.e. it's not like MS will get less money if they would, but their competitors will get more benefits, and that they don't want. It's a dirty anti-competitive tactic.

Yes, which is why Phil Spencer is "right" in the business point of view for defending MS lock-in (even if it's bad for anyone else).

Now if we talk about Apple, I think they were stupid to come with an exclusive api without having a big base of developers already using it before.
Shmerl Dec 10, 2019
Quoting: BielFPsYes, which is why Phil Spencer is "right" in the business point of view for defending MS lock-in (even if it's bad for anyone else).

Now if we talk about Apple, I think they were stupid to come with an exclusive api without having a big base of developers already using it before.

Anti-competitive tricks is not the right way to do business. It's the dirty way. I.e. proper way is competition on merit. In fact, anti-competitive behavior should be prevented by proper anti-trust (competition laws), because it's damaging to the progress and market in general.

And yes, I agree Apple are even worse. They are one of the most disgusting examples of lock-in proponents today.
WorMzy Dec 10, 2019
Quoting: Cyril
Quoting: WorMzyMeh, uses gtk3. I'll keep running teams at work on a Windows client.

Why you don't like GTK3? What would you prefer instead?

Mostly historical reasons -- I'm still bitter that the gnome devs just unceremoniously threw gnome2 out the window and said that everyone should use the monstrosity that is gnome3 instead.
I also particularly don't like Gnome devs hostile attitude towards end users who don't want to use their defaults, their tendency to break themes every six months (allegedly they've stopped doing this now?), and them telling application devs that they should only have code for gtk/gnome-specific "features" (instead of coding for multiple DEs), etc..

What I prefer instead is anything that isn't gtk3. Like I said, I'd rather run a Windows application than a native Linux gtk3 app.
gustavoyaraujo Dec 10, 2019
Nice, but they could port Direct X to linux hahaha
Purple Library Guy Dec 10, 2019
Quoting: WorMzy
Quoting: Cyril
Quoting: WorMzyMeh, uses gtk3. I'll keep running teams at work on a Windows client.

Why you don't like GTK3? What would you prefer instead?

Mostly historical reasons -- I'm still bitter that the gnome devs just unceremoniously threw gnome2 out the window and said that everyone should use the monstrosity that is gnome3 instead.
I also particularly don't like Gnome devs hostile attitude towards end users who don't want to use their defaults, their tendency to break themes every six months (allegedly they've stopped doing this now?), and them telling application devs that they should only have code for gtk/gnome-specific "features" (instead of coding for multiple DEs), etc..

What I prefer instead is anything that isn't gtk3. Like I said, I'd rather run a Windows application than a native Linux gtk3 app.
I too can't stand Gnome3. So instead I use Mate and occasionally Cinnamon . . . both of which, I believe, use gtk3. So I feel you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater there.
Cyril Dec 11, 2019
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: WorMzy
Quoting: Cyril
Quoting: WorMzyMeh, uses gtk3. I'll keep running teams at work on a Windows client.

Why you don't like GTK3? What would you prefer instead?

Mostly historical reasons -- I'm still bitter that the gnome devs just unceremoniously threw gnome2 out the window and said that everyone should use the monstrosity that is gnome3 instead.
I also particularly don't like Gnome devs hostile attitude towards end users who don't want to use their defaults, their tendency to break themes every six months (allegedly they've stopped doing this now?), and them telling application devs that they should only have code for gtk/gnome-specific "features" (instead of coding for multiple DEs), etc..

What I prefer instead is anything that isn't gtk3. Like I said, I'd rather run a Windows application than a native Linux gtk3 app.
I too can't stand Gnome3. So instead I use Mate and occasionally Cinnamon . . . both of which, I believe, use gtk3. So I feel you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater there.

Yeah sorry WorMzy but I fail to understand why you don't like GTK3 itself. GTK2/3 and Gnome2/3 are different things.
Just because you hate the Gnome devs, you hate GTK3 too?

I hate the Gnome 3 desktop too (it feel like a tablet or something, so boring to not have many configurations available at start etc), I use XFCE. But maybe I don't know some important things about it, and I'm not a dev myself.
Or rather, why Qt is better than GTK3?
wazz4657 Dec 11, 2019
This is good news. I use Teams at work with Trello to communicate progress on projects with some of the guys. We are too cheap for JIRA. Ive been forced to use the web client, which only works in Firefox, which ain't a browser that I use for anything else, so this eliminates that. I'm happy about this.
Phlebiac Dec 11, 2019
Quoting: fleskI'm not a .NET developer, so I'm not an authority on the subject, but I know our Microsoft teams are developing most of their applications with .NET Core deployed on Linux these days, so I assume it has most/all of the features that .NET has.

Not all the way there yet, but they are getting much closer. The current Windows-only .NET is going away with the next, fully cross-platform, release:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-5/
Liam Dawe Dec 11, 2019
Quoting: Shmerl
Quoting: Liam DaweYes, we do need to care. Same as we need to care about any application/game a lot of people use, that isn't available easily on Linux. Every single one is a barrier that can prevent people from sticking with Linux. We can make as many big steps on performance, ease of install and updating and so on - all junk unless what people want and regularly use is on Linux. Steps like this are important. Anyone who disagrees, frankly has their head firmly in a bubble.

As a Linux user, I actually find such examples damaging. I look at the IM situation globally, and it's not a Linux specific issue. E-mail managed to push through the federated approach, and only because it happened years ago, we are now lucky we can send e-mail from any server to any server.

IM is a horror story in comparison. Walled garden servers and services grow like mushrooms, and almost none of them can talk to each other. Attempts to advance federated approaches (XMPP and now Matrix) are met with total indifference from the greedy owners of the walled options.
Regardless of the issues surrounding collab/IM clients like this, my point was still pretty clear. If a lot of people use them, we need them available on Linux and I'm sure you fully understand this.
thoughtfulhippo Dec 11, 2019
While my attitude to Microsoft has definitely softened over the last decade, and I do see it as a positive not being forced to use Windows for 1 or 2 applications that may have been forced on you by your client / employer, I will remain hugely skeptical of their 'love linux' motives until I stop hearing about this sh*t.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.