Microsoft's (MSFT) forthcoming SQL Server for Linux is more than a one-product development. The effort also is very important to Microsoft's advanced analytics development, according to CEO Satya Nadella.
Microsoft announced SQL Server for Linux in March 2016, and has been targeting a mid-2017 release date. The announcement, championed by Nadella, further distanced the company from former CEO Steve Ballmer, who had once called Linux a cancer that need to be stopped.
Still, open source-related projects have accelerated under Nadella's leadership. And the SQL Server for Linux development remains on-track, Nadella told Wall Street analysts on Thursday (Oct.20).
"Overall, we are very, very excited about what we are seeing with SQL on Linux because the entire idea was to be able to have a full conversation around the data with customers," Nadella said on the earnings call. "One of the related conversations involves our analytics and advanced analytics. We've done some very, very compelling work again across Linux and Windows and then of course the cloud."
In many circles, SQL Server on Linux is considered Microsoft's answer to Oracle on Linux and Unix. Microsoft in March 2016 introduced a "free" SQL-on-Windows offer to counter Oracle. It's a safe bet Microsoft will make a similar SQL-on-Linux offer when that database arrives in mid-2017.
