What simply occurred? Provided that there was a time when Microsoft referred to as Linux a “most cancers,” it is little shock that the Redmond agency’s co-founder and long-time boss Invoice Gates had by no means met Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel. However that modified lately when the 2 attended a dinner, and it seems to have gone effectively.
Microsoft chief technical officer Mark Russinovich posted proof of the historic dinner in a LinkedIn submit. Dave Cutler, the legendary programmer and lead architect of the Home windows NT kernel, was additionally current, finishing this assembly of tech titans.
Russinovich jokingly wrote that whereas there have been no main kernel choices made, there’s at all times the following dinner.
Issues have come a good distance during the last quarter of a century. In a June 1, 2001 interview with the Chicago Solar-Occasions, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did not maintain again his emotions on open-source software program threatening Microsoft’s dominance. He famously mentioned “Linux is a most cancers that attaches itself in an mental property sense to all the things it touches.”
Ballmer had softened his view by 2016, saying that he believed his remark was right on the time, however including that the open-source risk was now “within the rearview mirror.” He additionally praised Microsoft’s embrace of open-source since Satya Nadella took over in 2014, together with Linux’s use in Azure, open-sourcing .NET, and contributing to the Linux Basis.
Associated studying: Greatest Rivalries in Computing Historical past
Torvalds has at all times had a repute for talking his thoughts and hurling expletives at those that do not dwell as much as his expectations. In 2013, kernel developer Sarah (now Sage) Sharp referred to as him out for “advocating for bodily intimidation and violence.” In 2012, he famously instructed Nvidia “fu*okay you” and gave the agency the center finger on digital camera. He additionally blasted Intel over its “rubbish” Spectre patches. In 2018, he apologized for years of “unprofessional rants.”
However Torvalds will nonetheless categorical his displeasure at something that annoys him, comparable to having to make kernel adjustments to handle defective {hardware} (Intel’s processors), or the present state of AI expertise, which he mentioned was 90% advertising and 10% factual actuality. Most lately, Torvalds complained about “random turd information” in Linux 6.15-rc1 directories.
Linus Torvalds says AI will change the world however it’s at the moment 90% advertising and 10% actuality, and it’ll take one other 5 years for it to develop into clear what AI is de facto helpful for pic.twitter.com/6knFEfJbqf
– Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) October 21, 2024
This is not the primary time Torvalds has damaged bread with Microsoft. He was photographed hanging round, smiling, laughing, and chatting with the Microsoft staff at their sales space at LinuxCon in 2016. Throughout that point, he was generally quoted as saying “If Microsoft ever does functions for Linux it means I’ve received.”
