Top all-time · #4809
Chris Pietschmann
Personal blog · build5nines.comprogrammingsystems
Chris Pietschmann writes Build5Nines, a personal blog at build5nines.com about programming and systems. Since 2020, 15 different Hacker News readers have linked it 34 times, most often “Linux is Most Used OS in Microsoft Azure – over 50 percent of VM cores”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-27, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters cite this blog's post on Linux usage in Microsoft Azure as evidence that most Azure VMs run Linux. Other links point to its Windows and Azure news write-ups.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Cloud, DevOps, SRE & AI guidance from industry expert Chris Pietschmann!
Most-linked posts?
- Linux is Most Used OS in Microsoft Azure – over 50 percent of VM cores8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2020-05-12
- Terraform Feature Flags and Environment Toggle Design Patterns – Build5Nines2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-08-28
What Hacker News says?
I think you may be underestimating how big Azure is and how much Linux they do. Although it is fun to think about the 90s version of MS embracing linux to this degree. https://cloudwars.co/microsoft/microsoft-wallops-amazon-in-2... https://build5nines.com/linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-a...
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on ““I saw that you spun up an Ubuntu image in Azure””Submitted Linux is Most Used OS in Microsoft Azure – over 50 percent of VM cores as a story · 351 points
HN discussionHow do you imagine Microsoft pulling off the "extinguish" step? Linux is the most popular OS for servers even on Microsoft Azure [0] so I don't see any threat in that regard. Then you have weirdos like me who have been running some variant of GNU/Linux as their primary desktop OS for years and will continue to do so. Sure, it's cool that Windows can run Linux software now but that doesn't make me want to switch. I l…
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Initial preview of GUI app support for the Windows Subsystem for Linux”Submitted Stack Overflow users deleting answers after OpenAI partnership as a story · 302 points
HN discussion>I'd like to think that, but I am not sure if that's actually true. It's hard to get real numbers, for sure. There's counts based on what the server shipped with, when those used to be bundled, which favors Windows. And there's counts of active servers on the internet, which favors Unix-like. Both counts are fundamentally flawed for various reasons. I did, though, get a chuckle out of Microsoft's slide that showed m…
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Introducing Windows 11”Submitted Sysinternals ProcDump for Linux as a story · 82 points
HN discussionMost Azure cloud computing customers use Linux: https://build5nines.com/linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-a...
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Does saying “Fuck You AWS” constitute offensive content?”Submitted Linux is Most Used OS in Microsoft Azure as a story · 8 points
HN discussionBased on my own experience with C/C++ projects are built with the assumption that you are on Linux. You have to do quite a bit of fangling to get it working with Windows, that it isn't worth the time. I don't want to setup mingw or cygwin to get things working for one weird library that's included. I don't have a requirement to build for Windows, so I will always just avoid it. I think Microsoft is making strides in…
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Go vs. Rust: Writing a CLI Tool”Submitted Microsoft Edge Browser Coming to Linux as a story · 5 points
HN discussionI administer a few Windows Servers. Unless you're heavily in the MS ecosystem (Azure, AD etc.), or have software that only run on Windows, I can't think of too many advantages that Winserver has from a server management perspective. Maybe the admin GUI? I understand that even on Microsoft Azure, most of the VMs being hosted are running Linux. https://build5nines.com/linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-a...
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Ask HN: If WinServer2019 was made free to use tomorrow,would you start using it”Submitted Get Started with Azure Bicep – Alternative to ARM Templates as a story · 4 points
HN discussionYes I did watch. We are past those types of concerns over Linux. The Cloud IS Linux. Azure runs more Linux than Windows https://build5nines.com/linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-a... About the Google projects...they cannot do any project that they wont get bothered with. As Linus said, we win when Microsoft starts developing for Linux...I am not dismissing the concerns, but the issues with Linux are not the corpora…
Comment linking /linux-is-most-used-os-in-microsoft-azure-over-50-percent-fo-vm-cores/
on “Linux Sucks 2021”Submitted Microsoft Azure Sphere’s $100K IoT Hacker Bounty Challenge as a story · 4 points
HN discussionReduce Fable tokens by 80%, simply by not using it! > I am fairly convinced this is the shape serious agent work keeps converging toward. "this" being "plan with expensive model, implement with cheap model". Anyone who follows HN would be hard-pressed to disagree; this architecture is re-invented twice monthly. https://www.facebook.com/groups/vibecodinglife/posts/1946207... https://github.com/openai/codex/discussion…
Comment linking /stop-burning-premium-requests-how-to-choose-the-right-github-copilot-model-for-the-job/
on “/architect: Reduce Fable tokens by 80%, Fable orchestrates/reviews, Codex builds”Submitted Top Azure IoT Announcements and Sessions from Microsoft Ignite 2020 as a story · 3 points
HN discussionPerhaps link to the writeup next time. It's not against guidelines and I don't speak for HN or its users, but video posts tend to not do as well as text posts for reasons I don't understand. Just an observation. https://build5nines.com/windows-gets-package-manager-with-wi...
Comment linking /windows-gets-package-manager-with-winget-cli-utility/
on “A Look at Winget, Windows Package Manager for Windows 10”Submitted Should Microsoft Acquire Canonical / Ubuntu? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Azure Bicep Roadmap Q4'20 into 2021 as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Install the New Windows PowerToys as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Terraform Feature Flags and Environment Toggle Design Patterns – Build5Nines as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Terraform Feature Flags and Environment Toggle Design Patterns as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Run Office 365 Apps on Ubuntu Linux with an Open Source Web App Wrapper as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Windows Server and SQL Server Certifications Are Gone as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Getting Started with GitHub CLI as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Nvidia Acquiring ARM for $40B as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Microsoft Surface Duo First Impressions – Dual-Screen Android Smartphone as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Properly Shutdown Azure VM to Save Money as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Goodbye: MCSE, MCSD, and MCSA Certifications Are Retiring as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Should Microsoft Acquire Canonical and Ubuntu? as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
