"We embrace and we extend," goes the refrain to a popular in-house Microsoft song of some years back, sung to the melody of Glory, Glory, Halleluiah. Is Microsoft simply trying to make Linux its own, or is it serious about doing a good turn for the Linux community?

The company made Linux a topic at its recent Worldwide Partner Conference in Minneapolis, replete with a hands-on lab and advice on how to compete with OSS competitors and a hands-on lab.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer certainly realizes the implications of growing Linux use, telling attendees to go after applications such as IBM Lotus Notes and Novell Netware, and talking about how they should deploy a Microsoft strategy to win against these products and Linux in the mid-size company markets that are becoming a main battleground for enterprise IT technology providers.

Microsoft executive Mike Nash reiterated the company's previously stated claims that in some respects Windows is now more secure than Linux (see http://dotnet.sys-con.com/read/103893.htm). The company also ran a hands-on Linux lab for its partners, urging them to use Apache and Linux. Techstream's Don Johnson reportedly said that Linux is more flexible than Windows, albeit with too much complexity and a lack of integration, in his view. He urged partners to avoid vendor lock-in with Linux, a statement that may be viewed as ironic by companies opposed to widespread deployment of Microsoft products within enterprise IT.

Mike Nash

Microsoft was recently exhibiting at the JavaOne Conference, and is now talking about and featuring Linux in its enterprise IT strategy. Should Java developers, and open-source developers, be thrilled with what may be a softening of Redmond's stance against these competitive technologies? Or should the OSS community be afraid, very afraid, that Microsoft may now be trying to make Open Source its own thing?

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