In a surprising (if overdue) turn of events, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, recently met for the first time during a dinner hosted by Microsoft's Azure CTO Mark Russinovich.
Russinovich captured the iconic moment and shared it on LinkedIn with a little witty caption (via The Verge):
"No major kernel decisions were made, but maybe next dinner."
Windows and Linux have a long-standing rivalry as operating systems, though the former still holds a competitive advantage over the latter, predominantly due to its market dominance and broad app compatibility.
However, Linux attracts users because, among a wealth of other reasons, it's an open-source operating system offering wide customization options, privacy benefits, and massive cost-effectiveness.
To that end, it remains unclear what the two executives discussed over dinner, but it's fun to imagine. It'll be interesting to see if absolutely anything tangible comes from this meet-up and how it could work given the difference in ideologies for the two companies, especially with Windows 10's end-of-life around the corner.
Microsoft is seemingly focused on monetizing software through licensing to profit, while Linux leans more on collaborations with developers at the forefront. Torvalds is well known for not mincing his words and not holding back any punches when it comes to throwing lethal jabs at Microsoft (via wccftech):
"Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems. PC is pretty much like air conditioning ... it becomes useless when you open windows."
Microsoft's longstanding rivalry with Linux seemingly came to an end when CEO Satya Nadella stood in front of an image with a Microsoft ❤️ Linux inscription (via PCWorld). The company joined the Linux Foundation in 2016 and now contributes to the Linux kernel, which it uses across its Azure server platform.
See? Windows and Linux users can be friends.
