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Microsoft Is Bringing Edge To Linux (venturebeat.com) 143

Krystalo writes: Edge is finally coming to Linux. At Ignite 2020 today, Microsoft announced that Edge for Linux will be available in the Dev preview channel starting in October. Linux users will be able to download the preview from the Microsoft Edge Insider website or from their native Linux package manager. Microsoft will start with the Ubuntu and Debian distributions, with support for Fedora and openSUSE coming afterwards. "Linux stands out in that, while it has a relatively small desktop population in terms of what you might call typical consumer or end user, developers are often overrepresented in that population, and especially in areas like test automation, or CI/CD workloads for their web apps," Edge program manager Kyle Pflug told VentureBeat. "Edge on Linux is a natural part of our strategy to reduce fragmentation and test overhead for web developers. By providing the same rendering behavior and tools across platforms, developers can build and test sites and web apps in their preferred environment and be confident in the experience their customers will have."
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Microsoft Is Bringing Edge To Linux

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  • Oh, right, plenty of not sane people around...

    • by spongman ( 182339 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @03:06PM (#60532800)

      Did you even read the summary? Jesus, some people. Hereâ(TM)s a summary of the summary, just for the lazy: Itâ(TM)s for devs using Linux to test their sites on Edge so they can verify without having to boot a windows VM.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Browser-specific sites? Have people learned absolutely _nothing_?

        • by chispito ( 1870390 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @04:46PM (#60533164)

          Browser-specific sites? Have people learned absolutely _nothing_?

          If you don't test on multiple browsers, how will you guarantee your site is not browser-specific?

        • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Browser-specific sites? Have people learned absolutely _nothing_?

          Less browser specific, more browser agnostic.

          You code up a site, you think it should work well because you stuck with the standards, and it looks great in Firefox because that's what you have to test. You go live and then Chrome users are complaining something doesn't work right because you accidentally found a Firefox quirk.

          And while Edge should be similar to Chrome, it doesn't always mean it is. Also applies to extensions that one may want t

        • by Junta ( 36770 )

          Nowadays no one *tries* to do browser-specific behaviors.

          However, different browsers interpret some standards slightly differently, or there is some combination of standard behaviors that necessarily affect each other, but the standard did not explicitly define the combination of those behaviors, so the browser does *something* (whether explicitly coded or not) that may be different.

          So you don't know you have a browser specific site unless you check.

      • So Edge is going to wander away from the Chromium "standard" (and I usually that pretty loosely)? If this is just another Internet Explorer 6 waiting to smack devs over the head, then this Edge, like the last Edge, and like IE before it, will just become the unofficial downloader for Chrome.

        • that may be, but it's irrelevant. the question was "why would anybody sane want this?" and the answer is obvious and has nothing to do with whether or not edge is close to chrome now or will continue to be. clients want their sites to be tested on the browsers that people use and tools that make that easier are a good thing, yes?

          The real question should be "why would anyone sane NOT want this?" (unless they just don't care about cross-browser compatible web development, in which case their comments are just

          • by gweihir ( 88907 )

            Well, I do understand that the people you describe want to stick to their crappy 2nd rated practices that cause problems, problems, and problems. And, you know, cleaning up after these amateurs has earned me a few 100k over the last decade or two. But why do people refuse to do good engineering? Just because it is software?

            • spoken like someone who either: has never done any real oftware engineering (beyond toy run-once scripts), is deluded, or lying.

      • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        Who is the supplier and who is the user. Obviously they are developing their sites to work on mozzila based browsers the by far dominant platform, surely it is up to those greedy lazy fuckers at M$ to make sure their browser works properly and not everyone fucking else to try to make their browser work with their website. Next they will be asking those Linux based developers to start coding edge for free, on wait M$, pay for the privilege to code for edge.

        The summary actually makes it worse, from the headli

    • Lots of people want to be edgy these days...
    • by GoRK ( 10018 )

      People like me who need to do things like run selenium tests against it want this. We are relatively sane, I think.

      • Absolutely.

        Anyone working in bug triage would welcome this as an additional layer of defense for the simple reality that a percentage of their customers will run Edge.

    • If Edge is fully ported including it's IE compatibility mode then this is huge and potentially yet another hurdle to strike off the list for Linux adoption -> corporate websites not working.

  • Oooh! (Score:5, Funny)

    by dark.nebulae ( 3950923 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @02:40PM (#60532654)

    Can they bring over the blue screen of death too?

  • by Cyberax ( 705495 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @02:42PM (#60532674)
    Well, Microsoft has basically given up on using the Windows NT kernel in their Azure servers and switched to Linux for the Dom0. They have even sent patches to the LKML with the source code. And we've had MSSQL for Linux for the last 3 years.

    So the next logical step would be to move the Windows ecosystem piece by piece to Linux.
    • by ElizabethGreene ( 1185405 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @02:47PM (#60532692)
      You wanted linux desktops. Next time you'll be more specific.
    • by sconeu ( 64226 )

      I guess Microsoft found the right value of Î

    • Well, Microsoft has basically given up on using the Windows NT kernel in their Azure servers and switched to Linux for the Dom0.

      They've done no such thing. The majority of Azure instances are very much Windows NT. Linux is a close second, and these stats are completely unchanged. The only thing they've done is provided people the ability to spin up Linux in Dom0 on their hypervisor, nothing more. A small edge case that is unlikely to have any meaningful affect on the overwhelming majority of their cloud servers.

      • by Cyberax ( 705495 )

        They've done no such thing.

        They are doing that right now. The instances are slowly being migrated from NT on the Dom0 side to Linux. The full migration will take years, due to the scope of Azure, but it has started.

        The majority of Azure instances are very much Windows NT.

        Nope, not for some time: https://www.zdnet.com/article/... [zdnet.com]

  • by thomn8r ( 635504 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @02:47PM (#60532696)
    ..nothing of value was gained
    • I disagree. If youâ(TM)re a web dev using linux and you care about cross-browser fidelity, then this is huge: you no longer have to boot a windows VM in order to test on edge.

      • It's Blink with Microsoft's UI. Can't they use last week's build of Chrome and call it good?
        • manager: "why is tech support screaming at me telling me that they're inundated with calls where the customers are unable to log onto their bank accounts and pay their bills?"
          tech lead: "oh, it's becausedidn't test on Edge, Cid Highwind said it would be ok.."
          manager: "you're fired"

          some people take responsibility for their work.

  • If I wanted chrome, I'd install umm Chrome. or one of the forks that aren't controlled by google.

    I do have chrome installed, I use it for when I'm forced to use BookFace.

    Let their analytics battle to the death.

  • Finally... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bjwest ( 14070 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @02:52PM (#60532724)

    Edge is finally coming to Linux.

    You say that like we've been begging for Edge on Linux...

    • Edge is finally coming to Linux.

      You say that like we've been begging for Edge on Linux...

      Eh... I'd rather have this than Systemd ...

  • Edge is actually a remarkably good browser. Sure it's based on Chrome, but it is smarter out of the box and I find myself using it over both Chrome or Firefox when on Windows. People are going to hate on Microsoft for anything, especially with "Linux" in the same sentence but as someone that uses both - this is something I would use over Firefox or Chrome.
  • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @03:00PM (#60532772)

    Edge on Linux is a natural part of our strategy to reduce fragmentation ...

    Embrace ... [__________] ... [__________]

    • by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      ... exterminate ... exhume

      What did I win?

    • >" Embrace ... [__________] ... [__________]"

      Yes, but is it MS or Google or some combination of them both?

      Thanks, but no thanks. I will stick with Firefox, which is already free, fast, efficient, and runs on all platforms, but is also open source, community-driven, and standards-based.

      • by mi ( 197448 )

        Like "committe-ruled", "community-driven" is a negative, not positive. But the open source part is important. Firefox, Midori, Chromium — whatever I can compile myself, is what I'll use...

    • Embrace ... [adopt] ... [profit]

      Done. Microsoft doesn't have the market share to extend, nor the market power to extinguish anything related to Linux. Their entire strategy has moved from dominating the world to simply making money off other people's efforts. And considering Azure is their second biggest income, and just shy of half of their cloud instances are Linux based, why would they extinguish?

      They are making a shitton of money from Linux.

  • Call me when... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jomcty ( 806483 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @03:01PM (#60532782)
    Call me when they bring native binaries of Word, Excel, Power Point, Access and Visio to Linux.
    • I'd rather the put the effort towards making a Wine variant that can run Solidworks and Hypermill. I think you could do Office for Anbox if a 365 subscription delights you.
    • and when Edge is open source.
    • by chrish ( 4714 )

      You left out the best one: OneNote

      Possibly the only Microsoft app I ever enjoyed using, before they paved over the UI with a "modern" flat one with fewer features. OneNote = 2016 was slick!

      Using Joplin in the mean time because I don't mind writing in Markdown, but OneNote was one of the apps that kept me on Windows beyond its best-before date.

  • And if distros start to bundle Edge by default, I'll simply open it immediately after install and download Firefox like I do on Windows.
  • by Zarhan ( 415465 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @03:29PM (#60532910)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    Actually, at IE 5.0 days it was not all that bad, since Netscape was at that point even worse. Only problem was that the installation seemed to include half of Windows, but it at least worked properly (for it's time).

    • by AndroSyn ( 89960 )

      I remember Internet Explorer for Solaris. I think you might be one of two people who miss it. The other guy is the poor bastard who ported IE to Solaris.

  • ...is what did Bono have to say about it?

  • Just no.

    • Why not? Are you a Windows fan wanting Linux to be denied the ability to use a browser with a functional IE compatibility mode and thus providing yet another excuse for people to justify not adopting open source?

      • Why not? Are you a Windows fan wanting Linux to be denied the ability to use a browser with a functional IE compatibility mode and thus providing yet another excuse for people to justify not adopting open source?

        Is IE compatibility even an issue anymore? And even if it were, what about all the other pieces you'd need to support legacy IE websites?

        • Is IE compatibility even an issue anymore?

          Yes. I take it you work for a startup or are self employed? You certainly wouldn't be asking that question if you worked even for a medium size company, let alone a large one, or for a government.

  • Next up, an Edgebook?

  • by HiThere ( 15173 ) <charleshixsn.earthlink@net> on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @04:22PM (#60533070)

    The summary didn't say what license they were proposing, and the article only had two matches on the term "lice", neither of which was license.

    If they put it out under the GPLv3 or the AGPL I might look at it. Perhaps. But I'm quite suspicious of anything from MS.

  • Microsoft brings another Chromium fork to Linux... Who the hell cares?

  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @04:36PM (#60533120)

    ... Edge?

    • That's the third step. I mean it's actually the second step, what we are actually witnessing is the embrace step followed by ill informed internet comments by people who think they are clever but who seem completely oblivious to the fact that not only is MS not in any position to execute an EEE strategy, but they would also be stupid to do so considering how much they profit from Linux.

      As I replied to the other guy: Embrace, Adopt, Profit. That's MS's current strategy. Linux is a huge part of their balance

  • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @05:17PM (#60533268)

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  • by tap ( 18562 ) on Tuesday September 22, 2020 @05:20PM (#60533278) Homepage

    If there was a wishlist of things for Microsoft to provide for Linux, made by people who use Linux and develop Linux, what would be on it?

    Another Chromium fork? Wasn't on my list.

    What I actually do have on my list.

    Support for git send-email to send via a Microsoft Exchange server, that, like most, has disabled SMTP. I wonder if Microsoft needs to use gmail to send kernel patches out?
    Silverlight to html5 translator
    Support for protected rendering pathways in the kernel DRM driver
    Ability to use a gcc cross-toolchain to compile a working Windows exe on Linux

    • Support for git send-email to send via a Microsoft Exchange server, that, like most, has disabled SMTP. I wonder if Microsoft needs to use gmail to send kernel patches out?
      Silverlight to html5 translator
      Support for protected rendering pathways in the kernel DRM driver
      Ability to use a gcc cross-toolchain to compile a working Windows exe on Linux

      Lol, those are all useful features that would suck valuable time away from designing new icons for the UI. (Plus, those things sound like work, ewwwwwww.)

      C'mon, wouldn't you rather have some cryptic new icons in pastel shades?

    • Can't you do that last thing with MinGW?

  • Microsoft is always reaching for the Edge trying to get a grip on usability but never quite manages to grab hold.

  • Yeah, I knew this shit was coming, or something very much like it.

    It was only a matter of time before MS realized that Linux users are a vast, untapped marketplace for them (at least that's how they see it now). This is the shot across the bow.

    Wait until they port MS Office to Linux. You laugh, but most people laughed at the idea of Microsoft Edge on Linux and look where we are now.

    • by neurojab ( 15737 )

      No point porting MS Office anywhere, when the money is in SAAS. They want a foothold in the Linux desktop space, so they can more easily sell SAAS products. What is the biggest Linux based UI platform? Android. But a close second is the Chromebook. A distant third is Linux on PCs. This may really be about the chromebook or MS' clone of such a concept.

  • There was a brief time period where IE for Solaris ran better than Netscape.

  • MS ignored Linux in the 90s. They then laughed at it in 00s. In the 10s they fought it. Now Linux wins.
    • MS ignored Linux in the 90s. They then laughed at it in 00s. In the 10s they fought it. Now Linux wins.

      Linux wins... whilst making Microsoft a shit-ton of money? That's an interesting definition of "winning"...

  • You say "finally" like someone is waiting for it...

  • I installed Edge and was quite impressed. Couple days later I checked my Pi-hole dashboard and the eavesdropping graphs looked like charts of US COVID stats. Edge was phoning home CONSTANTLY.

    deleted.

  • by Tough Love ( 215404 ) on Thursday September 24, 2020 @04:09PM (#60541392)

    Edge came from Linux in the first place, it is really KHTML. As massaged by Apple, then Google, and now Microsoft. All pretending it's their tech. It is not their tech, it is our tech.

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