Yes Microsoft loves Linux: Most development work on open-source, as the name suggests, are done openly. The only exception is some security stages. Unpatched security holes are discussed behind closed doors.
So we had mentioned to previous publication that Microsoft was vying for a spot on the Linux private mailing list developers who deal with security, like another linux-distro developer.
Sasha Levin, developer of the Microsoft Linux kernel – yes, there are those – asked for it access at Microsoft, because, in short, the Microsoft is a Linux distributor.
In particular, Microsoft provides many distro-type builds that do not exist in an existing distribution and are based on open source components.
These are:
- Azure Sphere: for IoT devices. It is Linux based and provides, among other things, security updates for IoT devices.
- Windows Subsystem for Linux v2: It is based on Linux and works like virtual machine on Windows computers. WSL2 is currently available for public viewing and is scheduled for public release in early 2020.
- Products like Azure HDInsight and the service Azure Kubernetes provide public access to a Linux-based distribution.
In addition, Levin stated:
As of today, Microsoft will also be able to access the private mailing list of Linux devs. Alexander "Solar Designer" Peslyak, security developer and founder of the open source security website Openwall, announced that Microsoft will join the list. Some people, however, are still opposed to the idea, Peslyak said that their allegations were "irrelevant to the acceptance criteria established today". So Microsoft Linux Systems Group will be officially added to the list by August 8, 2019 at the latest.
