Microsoft starts proving its Linux love

tech2 News StaffJun 28, 2016 19:05:10 IST

Microsoft released the popular software development platform .NET Core 1.0 ready to be installed on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The company first released the source code of .NET Core in 2014 and the versions since then were only meant for testing purposes. Version 1.0 marks the first ever supported version to be used for real-world usage and development. The release of source code marks the fact that the platform is open source and people can look at the code for any security vulnerability or any serious flaws.

The decision of open sourcing .NET was gaining momentum since quite some time as the company started open sourcing parts of .NET platform for years starting in 2009 with the framework ASP.NET MVC as reported by WIRED. Despite that, it never developed software for Linux which changed after the announcement in 2014. The company acquired Xamarin to consolidate it's efforts in providing cross-platform solutions.

This cross-platform philosophy marks a monumental shift not just in Microsoft but in the entire industry where for over the last decade Linux is increasingly being used for development. The companies that have helped the main businesses grow have gone the open source way. To compete with the open source solutions and other Linux based software's, Microsoft needs to maintain .NET as open source and that other IT tools provided by Microsoft are compatible and run on all operating systems like Linux.

Microsoft, keeping the shift in mind, released a preview version of its SQL Server database compatible with Linux. This is a huge shift for the company which did not use to offer software for competing platforms fearing that it would cut into its windows market share. The company had to evolve and change its strategy to align with the changes in usage pattern of developers and the industry. Moving to open source on multiple platforms was the solution.