Will they lobby for laws that prohibit Linux or make it difficult to install? What actions might they take in the future?
Embrace, extend, extinguish.
SQL Server runs on Linux. Azure supports Linux. The next step is to extend into their own distro, get everyone using it, then drop support for mainstream Linux.
Will it work? Maybe. They’ll have to make Microsoft Linux more attractive than Debian and Red Hat.
I believe they just don’t care, since not only is Windows not very profitable anymore, the real money is at businesses. So as long as they sell licenses to businesses (business laptops, etc), but also GitHub Enterprise (yes, Micro$oft also owns GitHub) Microsoft earns enough money that way. And also think cloud (Azure)…
My guess is therefor that the focus on Windows isn’t that big anymore. I just hope more companies and gaming devs/publishes also push native binaries towards Linux.
Windows is only 12% of Microsoft’s revenue, and between Mac, Linux and ChromeOS, it really doesn’t have a monopoly anymore on desktop (about 70%). On top of that, desktop usage in general is decreasing, and is already less than 50% of all web traffic.
What I’m saying is that I think it’s safe to say something else will likely “kill” Windows long before Linux ever becomes a serious threat to it.
Windows is only 12% of Microsoft’s revenue
That may be true, but a lot of their profits build on that Windows monopoly. I wouldn’t be surprised if about 80% of their profits depend on Windows.
Exactly what they’re doing right now. What cable companies did. What every dominant business does when something better starts to eat their lunch.
Become increasingly abusive and scummy towards the customers who are left, because they’re either too deeply ingrained, spineless or lazy to change and they’ve already self-selected.
Honestly fine by me. I prefer Linux remain non-mainstream. It has integrity like this. The moment any suits see dollar signs on it, it’s as good as ruined.
