

Node.js SDK for Windows Azure on Github - cek
http://github.com/WindowsAzure

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politician
Is anyone willing to speculate why Microsoft is supporting nodejs on Azure? Or
their use of Github/git rather than TFS? Or the work on redis-win32? It seems
like a negative for developer mind share in the long run.

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cek
I helped drive the Windows Phone 7 app platform engineering and evangelism
efforts (I left MS in early Sept).

I can't speak for the Azure folks, but I can tell you that as we built WP7 we
recognized that one of our biggest challenges was reaching the hearts & minds
of developers who had grown up outside the "MSDN tent". It was very clear (to
me anyway) that we had to try extraordinary things to engage with those
developers.

I suspect the Azure team is thinking the same way. It's pretty clear that
being insular isn't going to work anymore.

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antirez
I suspect that at this point it will be very, very hard to get the hearts of
developers that are not into Microsoft, but I think this is not an entirely
different effort of also conquering the hearts of normal users... at the point
Microsoft is in how is perceived outside I think they need a spectacular
change (a new CEO, with a new message), to publish a new version of the
operating system that is not a mess, and then yes, to be more open. I doubt
that supporting Node on Azure is going to really help as a first move.

~~~
sirclueless
I think people drastically overestimate the level of strategy employed by
large companies like Microsoft and Google. There are so many divisions and
projects within these companies, all with their own goals and personalities.

Of course Microsoft does have some large strategic goals for its public
conduct, but is it really such a stretch to allow that the Azure team wants to
embrace developers outside of their traditional base? So long as it doesn't
conflict severely with some other goal of the company, I don't find it
difficult to believe that an enterprising manager on a mission could push
through a project like this. Interoperating with a fledgling open source
project for mutual benefit, even though it might not be a traditional tactic
employed by Microsoft, is certainly not a particularly hard pitch to sell.
Particularly if it's not a heavily politicized open source project.

For example, let's not forget that both Microsoft and Google donate millions
each year for academic research into computing -- stuff that is way far out,
such as trying to find viable quantum computers. These companies have giant
market caps, and even though Microsoft may have a corporate edict to stamp out
Linux wherever possible, and Google's profits are directly affected by how
much creepy info they can gather on you, these companies are made up of a
bunch of humans, and you have to expect that at least a few of them can scrape
together altruistic and benevolent projects.

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vyrotek
I didn't think much of this until I realized that I couldn't find any
references to CodePlex.com anywhere on the new Azure website. I definitely
like where Microsoft is going with this.

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kristopolous
Do I see Microsoft on GitHub?

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darrenkopp
You can already see how much Scott Guthrie is changing things in Azure
division.

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vyrotek
Indeed. I'm convinced a lot of these changes are a direct result of Scott's
magic touch. I've been actively using Azure for almost two years. In the
beginning, Azure was a mess. The website, product names, portal and releases
felt so disconnected and confusing. Now things are streamlined and focused and
much more developer friendly.

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wavephorm
Can someone quickly explain (like I'm an idiot) how you remote administer a
Windows Azure machine without a unix command prompt? I have a feeling that
Microsoft and their cloud strategy is at a disadvantage in ways that they
cannot even comprehend.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
Why need it be a _unix_ command prompt? <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/gg271300>

