Did the marriage I predicted come true?

Way back in 2001, 3 years before Ubuntu [Linux] distribution based on Debian Linux was released, I wrote an article entitled Let’s Marry Linux to Windows and got mixed reaction. Some people thought it was a good idea. Others thought it was a terrible idea that would never happen.

Well, fast forward 15 years and not even I envisioned this marriage.  I am certain this marriage could not happen if Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer were still in charge at Microsoft.  It was almost sacrilege.

What am I talking about?  Well, let’s see:

1. Microsoft Azure (Platform & Infrastructure as a Service) cloud computing platform, fka Windows Azure prior to 2014, started supporting Linux VMs in 2012…. and they now support a host (pun not intended) of popular distributions.
2. Early 2015, Microsoft announced Windows 10 and upgrades would be free and pushed to regular users effective August 2015.
3. April 2015, Microsoft released a preview of their open source editor, Visual Studio Code, for Windows, Linux and OS X. Yes, you read that right, “Linux and OS X“.
4. A month ago, Microsoft announced that Mid-2017, SQL Server for Linux will be available. No joke.
5. Last week, Microsoft shocked more of the world in San Francisco when they announced that BASH (The Bourne Again Shell), a GNU/Linux & UNIX shell, was coming to Windows 10.  The key things to realize, readers, is that:
   1. This is not a joke
   2. This is a marriage… er.. collaboration between Microsoft and the Ubuntu creators (Canonical, Ltd.)
   3. It’s like CMD but BASH, not a VM or container, not like CygWin or other emulators
   4. Programs compiled for Linux will just run without even needing to be recompiled for Windows.
   5. Both your Linux utilities and Windows programs will have access to the same set of files
   6. It will be part of the stable version of Windows when Windows 10’s Anniversary Update is released Summer 2016.
   7. An Ubuntu 14.04 LTS-based Bash application will shortly be added to the Windows Store, followed by a Ubuntu 16.04 LTS-based application once Ubuntu 16.04 LTS launches on April 21.

So, the courtship began a few years ago, after Ballmer left, continued, and now they’re officially married…