Microsoft/Mark Russinovich
Boy, do I wish I had been at this dinner. For decades, Microsoft and Linux fought like cats and dogs. However, while the conflict has cooled down, and Microsoft loves Linux these days, the two leaders, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Linux creator Linus Torvalds, had never met… until now.
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Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Azure CTO, decided it would be neat if he could somehow get the pair and Dave Cutler, the man who led the development of VAX/VMS and Windows NT, together for a meal. And so it was, as he wrote: "I had the thrill of a lifetime, hosting dinner for Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, and David Cutler. Linus had never met Bill, and Dave had never met Linus. No major kernel decisions were made, but maybe next dinner."
Hey, Mark, next time, drop me an invite, too. You know how to reach me.
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At the meal, Russinovich brought together pioneers of both the open-source and proprietary software movements. Gates, whose vision and leadership transformed Microsoft into a global powerhouse, is synonymous with the rise of commercial proprietary software. Torvalds, by contrast, first through Linux and then Git, became the champion of open source.
For the first few decades, they and their conflicting views on software would clash endlessly with each other. While Windows still rules the desktop, over the years, Linux has become the internet's backbone, powering everything from servers and supercomputers to smartphones and consumer electronics.
During the last decade, while Microsoft hasn't given up its proprietary ways on the desktop, it has embraced Linux and open-source technologies. For example, Microsoft now contributes to the Linux kernel, has acquired GitHub, and Linux has been the top operating system running on Azure for many years.
While I wasn't a fly on the wall, Torvalds and I emailed about their get-together afterwards, and he told me what this gathering of all-time tech greats discussed.
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