Did Microsoft just sneak out its own Linux distro?
Microsoft may have evolved its Linux strategy even further
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Microsofthas quietly released the first stable release of itsLinuxkernel-based distro on GitHub under the MITopen sourcelicense.
But before you head off to download and take it for a spin, you should know that the distro, namedCBL-Mariner, isn’t designed to be used as ageneral purpose distroand doesn’t put out easy to use ISO images.
Developed and maintained by the Linux System Group at Microsoft, CBL-Mariner is in fact Microsoft’s internal Linux distro that’s specially tuned for use within itscloudinfrastructure and edge products and services.
Microsoft and Linux
Microsoft has long shunned its former “Linux is a cancer” belief and has embraced the technology and open source in general because it makes good business sense to do so.
Besides its numerous, regular contributions to the Linux kernel, usually to ensure its cloud offerings run flawlessly atop the kernel, the software behemothowns GitHub, arguably the largest repository of open source software, and CBL-Mariner is just one of a handful of projects of the Linux System Group at Microsoft.
The adventurous can follow theinstructionsof Microsoft engineer Juan Manuel Reyand install the distro inside a virtual machine.
However, for the rest of us, the best bet to bridge the gap between Windows and Linux is to use theWindows Subsystem for Linux 2(WSL2), which not is not only based on a release from the Long Term Support (LTS) Linux kernel 5.10 branch, but can now also run graphicalLinux appsseamlessly on theWindows 10desktop.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.
7 myths about email security everyone should stop believing
Best Usenet client of 2024
NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, November 10 (game #252)
