Microsoft and Ubuntu have confirmed that they working closely to get Ubuntu running on Windows Azure and with this move, this is the first time Microsoft is extending their support to an Open Source OS like Ubuntu!
Microsoft confirmed yesterday that they are extending their support for Windows Azure Cloud to Ubuntu by Canonical. And now, Mr. Mark Shuttleworth, Founder of Ubuntu has confirmed that they are making images specifically for Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud service. This will bring the support for Ubuntu Linux on the Azure Platform pretty soon!
Moreover, Canonical has also confirmed that they will be providing commercial support for these distributions on the cloud to the customers who are using Ubuntu on Azure. For those who are wondering when this will be available, Microsoft and Ubuntu say that its coming this fall, where Azure will have a major update and the Ubuntu on Azure will be available for purchase directly from Microsoft via Azure Gallery.
But there hasn’t been a deep relationship between Microsoft and Ubuntu in the past, so how did this Ubuntu-for-Azure come in the picture? Well, Mar Shuttleworth has an answer for us already in the blogpost:
“I know there will be members of the free software community that will leap at the chance to berate Microsoft for its very existence, but it’s not very Ubuntu to do so: let’s argue our perspective, work towards our goals, be open to those who are open to us, and build great stuff,”
That’s an interesting answer though! And Ubuntu has already been dealing with all these cloud stuff previously with Ubuntu One, which is amazing, and they’ve been doing a good job on that. And this move is going to be scaling their technology across the Azure platform.
But one of our friends at The 4Cast is feeling err….. when he heard this news, since he loves Ubuntu and did not like the new Ubuntu – Microsoft connection. But still, friend, its going to be beneficial for both Canonical and Microsoft in the business perspective!