Big tech companies who make money on software and open source seem to be completely opposite but Azure has proven the two can work together harmoniously. For a long time Microsoft was at war with open sourced software because it competed with the big money makers like Windows and Office, but now in the cloud age, everything has changed. Customers now pay for virtualization in the cloud and all the software tends to be included, so in this model, Microsoft’s software and open source software are on a level playing field. Plus, if support for Linux attracts paying customers then it everyone wins.
All this to say Microsoft has recently announced in a blog post support for more Linux distributions on Azure. These include, Ubuntu, CentOS (OpenLogic), Oracle Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), OpenSUSE, and CoreOS. If that wasn’t enough Microsoft will even provide support to ensure that Azure is not the cause of any issues. This support is even extended in a limited way to ensuring third technology is working properly for Azure customers.
If you are looking for a way to run Linux in the cloud, Azure may be one of the best options on the market today. Gartner has named Microsoft a leader in the server virtualization for the fifth straight year. Microsoft’s investments in servers and cloud seem to be paying off as we saw in Microsoft’s quarterly earnings this past week. Hopefully embracing more technology and playing nice with a focus on shared customers will lead to success for Microsoft in the cloud, and customers will have amazing choices in cloud providers.
