B
ack in 2015 Microsoft decided that it loved Linux. It loved it so much that it built a whole Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), which enabled Linux programs and development stacks to run natively. The official statement even involved a heart emoji, which we would have reproduced here but putting in-line images in the body text apparently causes alarm bells and wisps of smoke at the printers.
Anyway, heart or no, some people were sceptical of Microsoft’s intentions, with memories of the “Embrace, Extend, Extinguish” mantra and the 1995 Halloween papers still fresh in their minds. But it does really seem like Microsoft wants to accommodate Linux users (well, developers mostly), rather than force a mass defection.