Open source Windows is an interesting premise, but Windows-focused Linux is already a thing going on. Not only has Microsoft basically adopted Ubuntu, but most of their recent projects have been open source. They are actually one of the most numerous contributors to the Linux kernel and it's mostly to make Ubuntu run better on Azure hardware and to make Windows Subsystem for Linux more effective.
this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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The better question is why would we want that?
Microsoft has historically not been friendly to anyone else. Until they prove otherwise, this is going to be my assumption. It's some form of embrace/extend/extinguish.
I love that Linux is everything that Microsoft is not. I love that I have full control of my hardware. I have control over processes. I have control over packages. And user control is the default.
I can already join a Linux PC to a domain and run VPN. I can easily transfer files. I'm good.
Microsoft has historically not been friendly to anyone else. Until they prove otherwise, this is going to be my assumption. It's some form of embrace/extend/extinguish.
That's a good point. I feel like there would be a lot of suspicion or skepticism behind it
Windows Subsystem for Linux Is what it looks like right now.
But if they were to fully dive in on building a distro, it would just be a first step on the EEE pipeline.
I wish Microsoft would just release an official compatibility layer. Let us run Windows software in an officially supported sandbox with directx and all. Hell I'd even pay for a license.
My guess, based on Proprietary Codebases I Have Seen and the apparent general philosophy of Windows development, is that people would react to the now-open-sourced Windows code with either hilarity or horror (or both at once). There would be critical articles in the tech press. Then a small select group would mine it for low-level interoperability, but none of the code itself would be retained. Emulation layers such as WINE would end up being able to reproduce Windows' quirks more thoroughly, but finding the important bits in a mess of Someone Else's Code would slow down development as much as having an exemplar would speed it up. This all assumes that the code was released with an acceptable license.
On the Linux side, mostly a wash beyond some small interoperability gains, in other words. What would happen on the Windows side, I wouldn't venture a guess on.
Teams would possibly suck less, oh dear God how I hate teams with a passion, teams in Linux just fucking sucks.
Isn't Teams on Linux just a web app now? Last I saw there was no longer an actively supported native app for Linux
Yeah, I use the unofficial cliënt that is just a webbrowser to make it seem like an actual app.
I can open teams in Chrome, but half of the features are missing and I'm not going to install Edge!
It would be a signal that MS is throwing in the towel as far as Windows as a separate OS. However, I suspect they already have some kind of Windows compatibility layer of their own that they've been working on. It would probably have some sort of limited source availability, as opposed to a full open source FOSS licence. If that is the case, it could actually undermine WINE. If MS could save face somehow and fully embrace Linux, they might do it, but I doubt it will happen. Who knows.
It would be interesting. There are a number of bugs that are depended on so are preserved across updates.
Microsoft is also/was terrible at sharing documentation.
I think Windows would have a huge resurgence. The chimera would be used, but a large number of Windows distros would be created.
OTOH, I am terrible at predictions.