I wonder why is this the case. Microsoft is now teaming up with Docker, Google and others to make containers ecosystem and orchestration tools (like Kubernetes, libswarm) better.
Microsoft has a history of doing bad things. I don't know that the fear is warranted today, but "embrace and extend" was a real problem for a long time. Hell, Microsoft broke innovation on the web for a decade with IE. That wasn't an accident...it's just how Microsoft do.
There are certainly people within Microsoft who want to cooperate with the rest of the world, and their behavior has been better in the past several years, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's built into their corporate culture to destroy or coopt anything that might pose a threat to them. And, it may be that the only reason they aren't still destroying and coopting on a wide scale is because they have so much less power today. The web is not owned by Microsoft; in the end, they lost that war, despite trying very hard.
Anyway...Microsoft is not Google (and Google is not flawless in their relation to the rest of the web and Open Source). I think it's wise to proceed with caution whenever interacting with anything Microsoft has touched.
At some point, you have to make a leap of faith. I take great comfort in the delivery and momentum of the Azure team inside of Microsoft. I'm optimistic that the future of Microsoft looks a lot like that than they have before.
That said, I could be completely wrong, and it's important to trust, but verify.
As a result, I'm pretty comfortable with the terms that ensure we protect our commitment to Open Source and in ensuring there is no special access given by partners, Microsoft or not. The project is the project, governed under the rules set forth by the community. Even members of Docker, Inc. have to advocate and fight for every change they make, as we do not believe in creating different classes of contribution.
Yes, I am biased against Microsoft. That bias is based on a history of what I believe is unethical behavior that hurt innovation on the Internet and in Open Source software. Others may not consider their past behavior unethical, or may believe in "forgive and forget" now that they seem to be playing fair, which is fine for those folks. I am not as ready to forget, even if I eventually find forgiveness.
Regardless of what others think of Microsoft, I believe my disdain and mistrust for Microsoft is based on a reasonable understanding of historical facts, rather than some subjective vendetta. I've been a nerd for a long time. Microsoft has (until possibly very recently) never been a good citizen in the tech world.
Give over. Internet Explorer didn't hurt innovation at all. It was more innovative than Netscape by a country mile. IE was the first to pioneer CSS! And DHTML! Netscape pioneered, erm, cookies, I guess? There was no other web browser worth using other than IE or Netscape back in those wild west days of the Web.
Yes there was a period of a year or two when Netscape entered the abyss and it took a while for a new competitor to IE to spring up. But that happened (Firefox) and shortly after Microsoft resumed development on IE too.
You seem to have selective memory. IE brought A LOT of good to the Web. A LOT of good.
Courts in Europe and the United States disagree with you. And, while I'm willing to believe juries and judges can make mistakes, I have to say I don't think the courts did enough...and they went after Microsoft for many of the more minor problems with Microsoft's business.
"You seem to have selective memory. IE brought A LOT of good to the Web. A LOT of good."
From where I'm sitting you have a very imaginative memory. IE was better than the competition because it destroyed the competition using the very unethical (and illegal, according to courts in several nations) tactics I've already mentioned.
Honestly, I'm surprised anyone on HN would have so little knowledge of the history of Microsoft and the web that you would interpret their stranglehold on the browser as a positive thing. I simply can't wrap my head around it, it's so absurd to me.
Thanks for the down vote for disagreeing with your opinion.
The courts took issue with bundling it with Windows. Not that it was not innovative. There was even a few articles in recent years suggesting the courts went too far over the "bundling" case; sighting comparisons to vendor lock-in all over the industry now not reaching the courts at all. Just one top hit cite: http://readwrite.com/2013/11/12/apple-maps-takes-off-cue-the...
The whole bundling IE case was fundamentally stupid and run by lawyers and judges who had no understand of the technology industry, the web and the wild west stage the web was going through. Back then, it was all about enablement. Getting people just onto the web in the first place was hard. They had to buy a computer, a modem, sign up with an ISP, possibly upgrade their operating system, install a web browser etc. But in those days, installing a web browser meant you had to go buy a Magazine from a shop just to get the CD-ROM. Microsoft viewed this, rightly, as an impediment. So they bundled IE with their OS. A practice that is still common place today by every major operating system that exists including Windows, Linux, OSX, Android, iOS, WinPhone.
Without IE bringing DHTML we would not have the foundations that made modern day JavaScript, SPA, "Ajax" applications today. How is that not fostering innovation? IE 1 to 6 were a technology showcase to show everybody else what the web _could_ be or become. That's one reason why, though they'll never admit it, Mozilla abandoned Mozilla Suite and started work on Firefox.
"So little knowledge of the history of Microsoft and the web"? Er, what? I date back to having to when you had to install a TCP/IP stack manually in order to get onto the web. What you're actually surprised about is that anyone would dare challenge you on what you perhaps believed would be a widely held opinion when it's far from that clear cut.
The courts questioned the fact that browser was delivered as a part of operating system, not that it was blocking innovation.
Speaking of innovation it is true that IE was terrible in adopting standards (this was pain for long, long years and costed tones of money), but, on the other hand, they have invented XMLHttpRequest, which opened doors to modern web applications development.
There are certainly people within Microsoft who want to cooperate with the rest of the world, and their behavior has been better in the past several years, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's built into their corporate culture to destroy or coopt anything that might pose a threat to them. And, it may be that the only reason they aren't still destroying and coopting on a wide scale is because they have so much less power today. The web is not owned by Microsoft; in the end, they lost that war, despite trying very hard.
Anyway...Microsoft is not Google (and Google is not flawless in their relation to the rest of the web and Open Source). I think it's wise to proceed with caution whenever interacting with anything Microsoft has touched.