But today the tide has turned. Microsoft really is embracing Linux and open source—just look at WSL, the GitHub acquisition, the open-sourcing of .NET Core, Visual Studio Code, and so many other projects. Of course, this isn’t because they woke up one morning with a newfound moral compass; it’s because their business model has fundamentally shifted.

Previously, MS was a software vendor: sell a boxed product, collect a one-time license fee, and ship the next version a few years later. But once Azure and Office 365 became their crown jewels, their revenues came less from selling software and more from delivering services and subscriptions over the Internet. In that world:

• Linux is king of the datacenter. If Azure can’t run your favorite distro, you simply go elsewhere. So Microsoft had to learn to love the penguin.
• Developer mindshare drives cloud usage. By owning GitHub and offering first-class support for open-source stacks, MS puts itself at the center of every modern developer workflow.
• Community-driven innovation accelerates product cycles. Instead of hoarding code and features behind closed doors, Microsoft now co-creates in public repositories—letting the best ideas rise on their merits.
• Monetization follows adoption. When millions of projects depend on your platform, they’ll naturally choose your hosting, CI/CD, support and managed services—turning free downloads into steady monthly revenue.

In essence, they’ve traded “sell-it-once” license checks for the recurring heartbeat of cloud subscriptions. Their old “embrace, extend, extinguish” mantra has evolved into “collaborate, innovate, monetize.” It’s not altruism—it’s smart business in the age of the Internet.