SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
On 14 March 2018, Microsoft announced that it was open sourcing its Azure Service Fabric.
The Azure Service Fabric is a distributed application platform which aids in deploying microservices, highly available applications and containers on the Azure cloud (someone else's, in this case, Microsoft, servers) platform.
The announcement (via a blog post from the Microsoft Service Fabric Team) states:
At this point we have the Service Fabric repo up on GitHub with Linux build and test tools, which means you can clone the repo, build Service Fabric for Linux, run basic tests, open issues, and submit pull requests. We're working hard to get the Windows build environment migrated over as well, along with a complete CI environment.
[...] For now, you can compile and test Service Fabric for Linux, everything from the low-level clustering and federation layers all the way up to process and container activation. We are also opening it up for contributions, albeit at a limited pace as we work on moving everything out into the open.
The github repo main page gives current status on the open sourcing process:
Quick look at our current status
- Service Fabric build tools for Linux
- Basic tests for Linux builds available
- Container image with build tools available to run builds
Currently in progress
- Build tools for Windows
- Improve dependency consumption process
- Automated CI environment
- Migrate complete test infrastructure
Clearly this is an attempt by Microsoft to engage developers in using/developing applications/containers/microservices for the Azure cloud. From the standpoint of getting more folks involved in development of the platform, It's probably not a bad idea for them as they attempt to increase market share.
It still remains to be seen how receptive Microsoft will be to feature additions and bug fixes and whether or not they will allow non-MS blessed changes to actually run on Azure.
So what's the upside (if any) here for Soylentils?
Does this action by Microsoft make those of you who use (and/or consider using) other cloud (AWS/Google/etc.) platforms for PaaS, containers, microservices, etc. more interested in using the Azure platform?
Are there any advantages to this over tools available from other cloud providers? Is Microsoft just playing catch up?
(Score: 3, Informative) by canopic jug on Friday March 16 2018, @06:40PM (8 children)
It's worse than that. M$ uses GNU/Linux and OSS tools as bait to attract patent trolls. Software can be patented and there are many empty shell companies that, armed with a software patent or two, go after targets they think they can push over with the threat of litigation or with minimal litigation. If one fights and wins, the shell company pops like a bubble and disappears leaving the defense with a pyrrhic victory because of the legal bills.
M$ feeds these shell companies. When they come sniffing around Azure, M$ offers to offload their own software patents by selling one or more to the patent troll with strings attached. The strings are that M$ cannot be sued for said software patents. That leave the shell company to turn against M$ competitors in order to have any chance of recovering their costs. So M$ unloads dying software patents [techrights.org] before they lose all value at the same time they can sic a shell company on M$ competitors causing trouble and expense for real OSS-friendly companies. It's a twofer.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Friday March 16 2018, @06:45PM (7 children)
Software can be patented in the US, not in most other parts of the world. It seems that the editing tool a word.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @09:53PM (6 children)
To be clear, software that will run on a general-purpose machine is NOT patentable in USA.
USAian courts have been striking down, left and right, patents of this sort that had been previously issued.
The proper imaginary property protection for general-purpose software is COPYRIGHT.
TechRights.org has been covering this quite thoroughly as its primary topic for several years.
Now, software that is part of a dedicated system is a different matter.
The system, with the software as a component, can be patented.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Saturday March 17 2018, @05:36AM (5 children)
The direction that the US is heading is that software cannot be patented, but as far as I have read no distinction is made between general purpose and dedicated system software. Business methods and formulas/algorithms are also patentable in the US. So, most businesses are still acting as if it all is patentable and fighting it out in the courts. Your source, Roy's posts, are a little hard for me to follow due to how they jump around a bit even inside one and the same post. However, they are authoritative on the topic.
I only follow the US news in that area as closely as the news in India, for somewhat similar reasons.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 17 2018, @07:55AM (4 children)
You linked to TechRights but, apparently, you've missed what they've been saying FOR YEARS.
In effect, the Alice [wikipedia.org] case heard by SCOTUS in 2014 said that adding "with a computer" does NOT make an old idea patentable.
Again: The proper imaginary property protection for general-purpose software is COPYRIGHT.
.
as far as I have read[,] no distinction is made between general purpose and dedicated system software
You've lost focus and are dwelling on minutia.
In order for a pirated copy of the software/firmware to be useful, you'd first have to duplicate the purpose-designed hardware on which it runs.
THAT is already covered by patent law.
Again: If you're worried about software pirates, COPYRIGHT your code.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Saturday March 17 2018, @09:45AM (2 children)
You've lost focus and are dwelling on minutia.
A side effect of, among other things, reading too many of the cases in the recent past. Yes, we agree that software is covered by copyright, and copyright only not patents. Even the US courts are starting to say so as well.
However, getting assholes like the heads of M$ and most other big businesses in the US to accept the change is slow in coming. Since you're more up on the situation in the US, how well is the USPTO [uspto.gov] complying with the return to copyright-only for software? Are they granting software patents still? Have they revoked existing software patents or are they just waiting for the victims to fight trolls in court?
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 17 2018, @07:41PM
With the courts slapping these things down time and again, they will only issue new software patents if they are in the mood to look foolish.
Patent trolls especially are affected.
They now know that pressing a software patent case will not only have them losing the case, the court will, in no uncertain terms, declare the patent on the software to be invalid.
So, they not only wasted money on the patent application, they subsequently pissed away more money on lawyers.
...then got publicly slapped around by the judge(s).
...and the patent office gets to keep the application fee whether they approve that claim or not.
There's no monetary advantage to USPTO to *approve* an application.
In fact, ISTM that the faster they **reject** applications, the better their monetary efficiency becomes.
Long-term, it would also result in fewer crappy applications.
M$ and most other big businesses
Yeah. Entities that have lots of money and no shame are outliers in this.
In the end, the result will look the same WRT the verdict--but in the meantime, they can make a little guy's life miserable.
Isn't Capitalism wonderful?
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 19 2018, @02:41AM
Those courts who are still friendly to patent trolls and especially software patent trolls, like the Eastern District of Texas, are driving away businesses from those regions.
TXED Courts Are Causing Businesses to Leave the District, Notably For Fear That Having Any Operations Based There is a Legal Liability [techrights.org]
TC Heartland [eff.org] made court shopping unconstitutional, so that court is getting many fewer cases filed there for starters.
...then, as TechRights says
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 17 2018, @10:53PM
> You've lost focus and are dwelling on minutia.
"You've lost focus and are dwelling on a minutia" would be more grammatical. It's "minutia" when there's one, or "minutiae" when there are more than one.