Microsoft Surprises With Its First Server Linux Distribution: Azure Linux 4.0

Microsoft is releasing Azure Linux, a general-purpose, Fedora-based cloud distribution for all Azure customers, marking a significant move into the Linux space. This new distribution is built upon years of internal development, evolving from the earlier Mariner project, and is available as an open-source distribution on GitHub. Azure Linux 4.0 leverages Fedora's RPM package management, while Microsoft curates the packages to fit its cloud platform. It's designed specifically for Azure, offering tight integration with its infrastructure for an optimized experience. Azure Linux will initially be available as a VM image, and WSL images are also planned for developer use on Windows. While accessible locally via WSL, Azure Linux is not intended as a traditional desktop Linux environment. Its focus remains on server-side cloud operations, providing a lean environment for developers. Additionally, Microsoft is productizing Flatcar as Azure Container Linux, designed for immutable container hosts within AKS. Azure Container Linux is based on the upstream Flatcar project, offering an immutable, secure, and production-ready operating system. Microsoft emphasizes its commitment to the upstream Flatcar ecosystem, pulling those innovations downstream into a productized version. Azure Container Linux is designed specifically for container workloads in AKS, ensuring no package manager and all components baked into immutable versions. Updates are handled through reimaging, so users should deploy application workloads instead.