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>All that said - I'm happy to see M$ may soon become just 'MS'.
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>Johnf

I think it's time to remind everyone that Microsoft, just like nearly every company out there, is a "for-profit" organization

This is definitely a smart move. The direction with SQL Server and Linux aligns with the big push on Azure (which has matured in the last few years). With Azure, they can expand beyond a Windows-only environment. My take, MS is looking for incremental Azure revenue running SQL on Linux (certainly nothing wrong with that).

The already have a model of success in this area - over a year ago they made a Linux version of Azure HDInsight. That boosted their creds in the Big Data world.

Yes, this also helps the developer world - especially those who want to develop in a Linux-based environment. It definitely marks another point in their strategy of showing the world they understand that there are plenty of outfits out there who don't want a pure Windows-only environment.