Embrace, extend, and protect? Microsoft joins the Open Invention Network to 'protect Linux and open source'

Quoting: GuestLinux is going to conquer the whole world. It is a matter of when, not if. So Microsoft is making the right moves... I expect them to turn Windows into a Linux distro + proprietary libraries/API/DE at some point. It will be cheaper for them to maintain, will be able to enter most markets Windows can't enter/dominate now, like mobiles/servers, and will still allow them to be top dog, assuming they create a good and polished Linux based desktop OS and make linux-compatible versions of their stuff like Office...

People may laugh at this idea now, but it is an inevitability. Trust me. It may not happen in 5 or even 10 years, but it will eventually... The traditional "pay for a Windows licence" model is dead.

It's certainly crazy but it is an idea I've been wondering about for a while now. Turn Windows in to a Linux distro that doesn't run Linux...

GNU/Windows!!!


Last edited by Luke_Nukem on 11 October 2018 at 4:54 am UTC

Quoting: Salvatos

Quoting: Purple Library GuyUrgh, tell me about it. At my library we got a new system for all our info, and it's in the bloody cloud. So where it used to be if we checked out a book the reaction was instant, because the database was in the buiding, now there's a couple seconds lag on every single action because we're in Vancouver and the server is in bloody Toronto. It's also browser based, and the people who wrote it cunningly set it up so that if you open a new tab to do two things at once with it, your actions on the two tabs write to both or something so it corrupts your data. So we can't do that. And it breaks if you use browser controls like the reload or back button, you have to use their little "back" control instead, which varies its position depending how the browser is laying out the page. Has all the disadvantages of a web app but few of the advantages. But, you know, web apps and the cloud are fashionable. Gah.

One agency I translate for uses a Web-based translation interface. It's great because I don't need to pay hundreds for a license to a proprietary program that only runs on Windows. It sucks because for three hours today I couldn't get any work done while the server constantly threw up 502s or logged me out of my session. And I can't ever have two files opened at once in different tabs or computers because oh boy that is way beyond the Cloud's capabilities apparently.

That is one thing I have to admit: The web-based thing runs on my Linux laptop, which is occasionally handy.

If Microsoft really wanted to outdo themselves, they can use Linux as the backend for their next windows release, now that would be crazy, maybe make WINDOWS a desktop environment just like gnome/xfce/plasma5, that be pretty cool.

Mind in the clouds thoughts, I know...

Quoting: TheRiddickIf Microsoft really wanted to outdo themselves, they can use Linux as the backend for their next windows release, now that would be crazy, maybe make WINDOWS a desktop environment just like gnome/xfce/plasma5, that be pretty cool.

Mind in the clouds thoughts, I know...

It would have to be a DE that did all the bad stuff Windows 10 is supposed to do now. I wouldn't want it as much as don't want Windows 10.
Why would I want a Linux coming from Microsoft, when I can have a real one without MS spyware?

Quoting: mylka

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: m2mg2

Quoting: mylkamaybe microsoft knows, that the desktop market is shrinking. mobilphones are the future and ms has no chance against android and apple. not tomorrow of course, but can you imagine what phones can do in 10 years? 10yrs agao we played snakes and now fortnite. in 10yrs we may have a complete office PC on our phones and tablets
even we gamers are a very small market compared to consoles. PS4 has way more sellings than pc games. so who needs a desktop OS in 10yrs?

cloud is the future. maybe cloudgaming and servers have linux. all you need is a tablet and a bluetooth gamepad to play cyberpunk... or a switch and you can play everywhere
even smart tvs could handle streaming. you don't even need a console anymore

Cloud is just a catch phrase. It is nothing new, just extending your local network into the internet. Offloading your management and hardware overhead by sacrificing security. I'm constantly amazed by how much worse the breaches keep getting while simultaneously the push for the cloud, the very thing enabling these massive breaches, keeps getting pushed harder. I had a vendor that was quoting a job for me say, "yeah but they're really getting better with the cloud security". Um, no they're not, not really. The breaches are still getting bigger and bigger. The guys keeping their LAN's local and secure keep sitting back laughing at all the breaches, until the executives force "the cloud" down their throats. Then they sit back and wait for the walls to cave in.

The cloud is great for things that need to be on the internet (internet services) and horrible for things that don't.

Urgh, tell me about it. At my library we got a new system for all our info, and it's in the bloody cloud. So where it used to be if we checked out a book the reaction was instant, because the database was in the buiding, now there's a couple seconds lag on every single action because we're in Vancouver and the server is in bloody Toronto. It's also browser based, and the people who wrote it cunningly set it up so that if you open a new tab to do two things at once with it, your actions on the two tabs write to both or something so it corrupts your data. So we can't do that. And it breaks if you use browser controls like the reload or back button, you have to use their little "back" control instead, which varies its position depending how the browser is laying out the page. Has all the disadvantages of a web app but few of the advantages. But, you know, web apps and the cloud are fashionable. Gah.

i dont think so, if i watch kids today. they dont care about PC/laptops anymore. they browse the web with their phone, they watch netflix with their phones, they listen to music with their phones, they play games on their phones

Quoting: m2mg2

Quoting: mylkamaybe microsoft knows, that the desktop market is shrinking. mobilphones are the future and ms has no chance against android and apple. not tomorrow of course, but can you imagine what phones can do in 10 years? 10yrs agao we played snakes and now fortnite. in 10yrs we may have a complete office PC on our phones and tablets
even we gamers are a very small market compared to consoles. PS4 has way more sellings than pc games. so who needs a desktop OS in 10yrs?

cloud is the future. maybe cloudgaming and servers have linux. all you need is a tablet and a bluetooth gamepad to play cyberpunk... or a switch and you can play everywhere
even smart tvs could handle streaming. you don't even need a console anymore

Cloud is just a catch phrase. It is nothing new, just extending your local network into the internet. Offloading your management and hardware overhead by sacrificing security. I'm constantly amazed by how much worse the breaches keep getting while simultaneously the push for the cloud, the very thing enabling these massive breaches, keeps getting pushed harder. I had a vendor that was quoting a job for me say, "yeah but they're really getting better with the cloud security". Um, no they're not, not really. The breaches are still getting bigger and bigger. The guys keeping their LAN's local and secure keep sitting back laughing at all the breaches, until the executives force "the cloud" down their throats. Then they sit back and wait for the walls to cave in.

The cloud is great for things that need to be on the internet (internet services) and horrible for things that don't.

if you worried about that, then your account here isnt save, your amazon account isnt save, your netflix account isnt save... both have your credit card number
you accually shouldnt be on the internet at all, because "they" track you and send you ads and malware
do you have a phone? google or apple knows where you are, where you have been and even where you going

you have to trust these things, to make your work/life easier. i almost dont even use office anymore. i use "google documents". thats more than enough for my purpose and i have all my files on every device

could it be unsave? Yes
do i have very important stuff there? NO
the same thing with your vendor. what would they lose, if someone hacks into it? do they get private stuff, or "just" bills, bank balance and adresses

You're right most accounts aren't safe. That is why I don't put information in them I really don't want compromised. I have very few accounts which actually have my card info, and I monitor my cards often for that reason. You don't have to trust everything, you pick and choose what you want to trust. Trusting something because people say you should while logic and real world instances indicate you shouldn't isn't very wise. The "cloud", AKA the internet, isn't going anywhere but at some point I see people that are really serious about security keeping large parts of their infrastructure local.


Last edited by m2mg2 on 11 October 2018 at 5:13 am UTC

Quoting: Salvatos

Quoting: Purple Library GuyUrgh, tell me about it. At my library we got a new system for all our info, and it's in the bloody cloud. So where it used to be if we checked out a book the reaction was instant, because the database was in the buiding, now there's a couple seconds lag on every single action because we're in Vancouver and the server is in bloody Toronto. It's also browser based, and the people who wrote it cunningly set it up so that if you open a new tab to do two things at once with it, your actions on the two tabs write to both or something so it corrupts your data. So we can't do that. And it breaks if you use browser controls like the reload or back button, you have to use their little "back" control instead, which varies its position depending how the browser is laying out the page. Has all the disadvantages of a web app but few of the advantages. But, you know, web apps and the cloud are fashionable. Gah.

One agency I translate for uses a Web-based translation interface. It's great because I don't need to pay hundreds for a license to a proprietary program that only runs on Windows. It sucks because for three hours today I couldn't get any work done while the server constantly threw up 502s or logged me out of my session. And I can't ever have two files opened at once in different tabs or computers because oh boy that is way beyond the Cloud's capabilities apparently.

Making OS agnostic services is a plus for browser based apps, it's really annoying though when they use a browser interface and still find a way to make it not work on Linux.

Quoting: mylkai dont think so, if i watch kids today. they dont care about PC/laptops anymore. they browse the web with their phone, they watch netflix with their phones, they listen to music with their phones, they play games on their phones

That isn't evidence of replacement. Kids yesterday didn't have the phones . . . but they didn't have desktop computers of their own, either. Mind you, my daughter does do a lot of that on her phone. Annnnd she edits video on her Macbook Pro. Just, not in public where you'd see her doing it.
At the university library where I work we have rows and rows of desktop computers; the kids fill them up all. the. time., and we lend out laptops, which are at the point of being more popular than books. The kids do not write their essays on phones.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 11 October 2018 at 5:11 am UTC

Quoting: Nevertheless

Quoting: TheRiddickIf Microsoft really wanted to outdo themselves, they can use Linux as the backend for their next windows release, now that would be crazy, maybe make WINDOWS a desktop environment just like gnome/xfce/plasma5, that be pretty cool.

Mind in the clouds thoughts, I know...

It would have to be a DE that did all the bad stuff Windows 10 is supposed to do now. I wouldn't want it as much as don't want Windows 10.
Why would I want a Linux coming from Microsoft, when I can have a real one without MS spyware?

Nah "Windows Next" - with a compatibility modes in the form of wine/dosbox, that could be done today - hell it was done more or less 17 years ago ( Lindows )

And why you would want a Linux distro with the Microsoft stamp on it? Not for your self properly as It's hard to imagine it wouldn't come with half the OS in the form of proprietary binaries - but, a mac os like thing would mean more programs & games that works out of the box with Linux ;)


A guy can dream...

I was about to say "no" with an expressionless face, but what are the 60,000 patents?

Quoting: mylkai dont think so, if i watch kids today. they dont care about PC/laptops anymore. they browse the web with their phone, they watch netflix with their phones, they listen to music with their phones, they play games on their phones

Most kids didn't care about PCs when I was a kid either. They had watches, gameboys, mp3 players, etc. Doesn't change the fact that we all used computers at/for school, most of us now use them at work and anyone would choose a monitor over a 5-inch screen for their home entertainment if they have the option. Kids were never the main demographic for desktop computers (well, most types of computers), but that doesn't mean they won't use them later. Hell, there are a lot of things kids don't care about that they will need later on. Their lack of interest hardly indicates the death of an industry.