Linux is now Microsoft Azure's most commonly used operating system, according to ZDNet, quoting a Linux kernel-based Microsoft developer. The same source says that only one Azure device out of four used Linux about three and a half years ago. Linux systems on the Azure platform became 40% in 2017, about half in the autumn of 2018 and, according to what has been revealed in the last few days, "the use of Linux on the cloud platform exceeded that of Windows Server."
"Linux is growing every month," Scott Guthrie said to the source: "Azure indigenous services are often run on Linux. For instance, the Azure Software Defined Network (SDN) is based on Linux." Microsoft heavily opposed Linux and open-source in particular several years ago, but there has been a consistent (and necessary) opening in latest years. The firm first recognized Azure's use of the open-source operating system, then launched its kernel on Windows 10.
Microsoft also purchased GitHub, made MS-DOS open source and contributed to the Chromium project's growth as well. Guthrie explained that when it made the ASP.NET code accessible to the society, the firm acknowledged the significance of open-source more than 10 years ago: "We acknowledged that every developer could profit from open-source," she said. "It's not just lovely, it's basic. It's not just code, it's community." And now Microsoft is "the world's largest open-source proponent."
In short, we can say that for several years now the axes of war have been deposed, but it does have an effect to discover that even the essential services of Redmond have moved massively towards open source. A giant like Microsoft's gradual opening up to the community can only do good for innovation, particularly at a time when there are several technologies in growth or on the horizon, such as AI, IoT, and 5 G, where open-source can only do well by accelerating technological development.