Azure Linux is Microsoft's take on the open source operating system. Mainly used for internal purposes, but could another distribution be made for the public?
Microsoft analyst Mary Jo Foley he says that the distribution is set up to be lightweight and secure, but also that it has the potential to reach a wider audience.
Yes let's face it, if there's one thing the Linux world needs, it's another distro….
Azure Linux was originally known as CBL-Mariner and maybe lately, it would probably end up being called Copilot for Linux or something like that.
Downloadable from GitHub, Azure Linux is a container host operating system for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and supports both x86 and Arm chips.
This last point is important. There is currently no publicly supported version of Windows Server running on Arm, despite Microsoft touting Arm technology through its Copilot+ PCs. Porting and supporting all Windows Server functionality to the Linux platform would be quite complex, but there is potential for Microsoft to compete in the Linux enterprise server space.
Foley said the world probably doesn't need another Linux distribution. However, the end of support for CentOS opened a window of opportunity to Microsoft.
"Most Azure customers are running Linux on Azure rather than Windows Server on Azure," according to Foley. So it's hard to think that Microsoft wouldn't want to be part of hosting workloads.
Of course there's also Amazon Linux 2, a Linux operating system from Microsoft's arch-cloud competitor AWS, which is provided for free and described as a "security-focused, stable, and high-performance environment for developing and running cloud applications." Amazon of course provides continuous security updates.
If Microsoft had something similar?
Microsoft's LinkedIn platform recently moved from CentOS to Azure Linux. The experience was undoubtedly a challenge, but it was good for Azure Linux, and for Azure in general.”
Does the future of Azure Linux lie somewhere other than hosting containers on AKS (Managed Kubernetes Service)?
Foley asked Microsoft and was told:
“Azure Linux for VM use or on bare metal (servers) is not available as a commercially supported distribution today. Support is limited to AKS.”
Note the word “today”.
Microsoft is unlikely to make much money directly from Azure Linux. However, it could assuage the public's concerns about support and maintenance.
Steve Ballmer as CEO of the company once said “Linux is cancer". Since then, too many administrators have taken the "Anything but Microsoft" attitude, an attitude that persists.
Convincing these administrators that Microsoft can be a reliable Linux partner is a challenge that should not be underestimated.
If we say that the "13s" might be a Linux version of the "windows of the next day" will we be futurists or ... satanists?