Linus Torvalds' code now in a Microsoft development product

Thursday, January 31, 2013 gc 2 Comments

Announced yesterday, TFS (Team Foundation Server) now supports Git as an integrated TFS repository. Microsoft has chosen Git as their DVCS (Distributed Version Control System) solution instead of building their own. They have full-time employees contributing to libgit2. I am really happy to see the TFS team move in this direction. Git repositories seems to support the full ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) features of TFS.

Great interview/overview with Martin Woodward, TFS Program Manager, yesterday on .NET Rocks: http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=842

The irony: Linus Torvalds' code is now in a Microsoft development product. Thanks Linus. I, like many, appreciate your work and cannot wait to see your reaction. Years ago, Linux was the only operating system that I ran--even on a laptop. Linus Torvalds is the chief architect of the Linux kernel and also founded the Git project.

More details:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bharry/archive/2013/01/30/git-init-vs.aspx

Git support is still in CTP at this point and will only run on Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 (also CTP).

Enjoy!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

I think you may have got your facts wrong and have jumped to conclusions.

It seems you have mistaken "libgit2" as being part of the git project. It is not, it has been developed independently and they don't share code. The "git" program for example does not use libgit2.

Additionally, I do not see Linus' name mentioned in the AUTHOR file for libgit2.

The irony is not they are using his code but supporting his vision for source code management

11:10 PM
gc said...

@sean Thank you for your comment and feedback.

I did learn that libgit2 is not the same as git, but my understanding is that core code from git is used in libgit2. You are right that Linus is not an author/contributor in libgit2. My understanding is that most contributions have been made by GitHub, but now many other companies are making significant contributions as well. Some of these contributions are also folded back into git. It is somewhat likely that libgit2 will be used by git in the future IMO.

To stir the pot another half turn :-), here is another interesting point that would be nice to know what Linus thinks about since he often provides colorful feedback:

Android is based on the Linux kernel (along with a Android runtime on top of the Dalvik Virtual Machine). (Source: http://www.elinux.org/Android_Architecture)

Android is one of the post widely deployed Linux distribution (Source: http://www.zdnet.com/the-most-popular-end-user-linux-distributions-are-7000017223/)

And Microsoft makes an estimated $5 - $15 per Android device (Source: http://gizmodo.com/5806227/did-you-know-microsoft-makes-five-times-more-money-from-android-than-from-windows-phone)
(Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/android/microsoft-makes-more-android-windows-smartphones-707)

I am a big fan of Linux and used to run it on all my hardware (including laptops). I want to see it to continue to do well -- not only in the server space but also client and mobile.

There more you look -- the more irony.

Please let me know if you have more details, clarifications, or corrections. I basing this off information from forums/internet which is not always the most reliable. Thanks again.

9:55 AM