Bill Hilf 是微软平台技术战略的负责人，他的工作重心有两块： 首先，让 Windows 能更好地与 Linux 协同工作；其次，通过研究和学习最终达到战胜这个开源对手的目的。
当然，Bill 本人对此的诠释要艺术生动的多。
本周，LinuxWorld 大会正在旧金山举行，Bill 与会并接受了媒体专访，他这样描绘他在微软的生活：“我犹如活在阴阳两个不同的世界。即要研究对手的一举一动，又要抽身打理诸如产品间的配合啦、互换性及发展时机等等。 两个重心可谓是一半一半，不偏不倚。”
微软内部的 Linux 及开源软件实验室（Linux and Open Source Software Lab）即要负责审查被公布的微软产品的安全缺陷，又要担当通过对微软及其它第三方产品进行测试，促使双方彼此兼容的任务。该实验室内架设数百台服务器和工作站，上面跑着各式各样的 Linux 和 Unix 系统。
该实验室所分饰的双重角色折衷体现出微软处理 Linux 及开源软件事务上的思维定式。
在微软看来，Linux 仍然是不可忽视的对手，必须郑重对待，予以迎头痛击。微软为此花费了大量的时间和金钱，一个很好的证明就是，微软积极推行反 Linux 的“了解真相（Get the Facts）”活动。
但同时，微软似乎也别无选择地接受了 Linux 是挥之不去的这个事实，微软也意识到，如果不能充分正视这个强大的对手，那客户就有弃己而他投的可能，从而有商机丢失殆尽的危险。
Hilf 加盟微软转眼已有两年的光景，此前他曾是大公司的 Linux 和 Unix 管理员，他为像 IBM 这样名声显赫的公司服务过，也替网上玩具零售店 eToys 建立过 Linux 数据中心。
Hilf 透露他一加入微软，便与微软的开发者们展开了对话。
他回忆道：“起初，他们纷纷向我展示，Linux/Unix 世界的所作所为，是如何也能在 Windows 上实现的。” 在 Hilf 为微软建立起这个 Linux 实验室之前，微软主要通过公司编外的技术顾问了解那个非 Windows 的世界是怎样的。
危机意识
近来，伴随着自身的发展，微软开始意识到开源软件的重要性。 华盛顿州 Redmond 市的软件巨人认识到，通过一些辅助管理工具及虚拟机技术，能更好地提供与 Linux 的互操作性，反过来可以极大地推动自身 Windows 产品的发展。
Hilf 说：“微软是一家非常善于捕捉机会的公司。它会不断地寻找新的途径以扩大商机。我们会不停地制造深受大众欢迎的软件产品。”
在微软 Redmond 总部和同事聊天时，Hilf 说自己几乎成了 Linux 用户的代言人。
他说：“微软开发人员总是跑来问我，‘喂，Bill，你觉得 Linux 用户会喜欢这个吗？’，或者‘你觉得这个是不是有点愚？’”
Hilf 有能力集 Windows 和 Linux 两家之长，这也让他深受微软客户的喜爱。 客户们常向他征求意见，询问如何能让 Windows 和 Linux 共存。 Hilf 说：“许多客户都表示他们混合使用 Windows 和 Linux，希望我们能如何这样如何那样的。”
对 Hilf 而言，在 Redmond 总部这般纯粹 Windows 的环境里，要建立一个 Linux/Unix 世界，本来就是极富挑战性的事情。
他的宏图大略始于建立运行不同系统的服务器机房，这些机器运行各种流行的 Linux 系统，其中也有来自 Sun、IBM、HP 和 Apple 等公司的商业 Unix 系统。其目的，就是要建立起比任何客户都要大型和复杂的混合系统。
他指出：“没有人会在 200 台服务器上跑 40 个不同版本的 Linux 系统，那可真不是明智之举。”
但想要通过微软的采购渠道，哪怕是添置一台 Linux 服务器都是困难重重的，更不要说建立 Linux/Unix 实验室所需的其它非微软产品了。
Hilf 说：“我所需要的一半产品都无法通过我们自己的正常采购渠道获得。”
他只能坐下来，和微软内部 IT 人员仔细解释 Linux 实验室的具体需求。他发现自己简直是鸡同鸭讲，那些伙计对微软产品的测试平台了如指掌，但对竞争对手的产品一无所知。
微软技术总监（CIO）Ron Markezich 在去年 12 月接受 CNET news.com 的采访时，曾表示：“微软的公司制度是，不得使用与微软竞争的任何产品。我的目标就是要确保微软的产品是世界上最好的。因此，对我而言，选用微软自己的产品是当然之举。 我们从不运行 Unix，也不用 Linux，更不用 Oracle， 我们用的是百分之一百的 Windows、SQL 服务器。”
有了这番论调，Hilf 的请求会小小挫折一下，也就不足为奇了。
Hilf 最后回忆道：“在经过多次协商后，他们最后说‘好吧，我们会让你如愿以偿的，但往后的事，就只能靠你自己了，你只须遵守我们的安全策略，其它一切随你的便。’”
黑白世界
在 Linux 实验室中，Hilf 终于能建立起自己的网络系统，但接收 email，使用即时通讯软件（instant messaging，IM）都遇到不小的挑战，有时连浏览网页都成问题。
Hilf 说：“在微软 IT 环境的重重包围之中，我们居然建立起庞大的混合系统。”
在调和 Windows 和 Linux 这两大系统的过程中，Hilf 不断被产品缺陷所困扰，这些问题有属于微软的，也有开源软件或其它第3方软件的错误。
Hilf 举了一个即时通讯（IM）软件问题的例子。Gaim 是一个开源的 IM 客户软件，这个软件最初不支持 HTTP 协议，而这是 Hilf 当时所唯一能使用的技术。于是 Hilf 召集开源软件开发人员赶制了一个补丁。他向 Gaim 提交了这个开源补丁，Gaim 社区也接纳了他的建议。
Hilf 高兴地表示：“现在我们和其它 Gaim 使用者一样，都能使用这个功能了。”
如果问题出在微软产品当中，Hilf 会立刻知会微软产品开发小组。
现在，Hilf 所作的不仅仅是向微软产品开发小组提交错误报告。他目前的工作有相当一部分是围绕微软明年推出 Windows Server 2003 R2 而进行的。目前 Windows 系统中包含许多 Unix 服务工具，在即将到来的R2升级版中，包含大量这些软件的最新版本或升级补丁。
Hilf 指出：“我们目前正展开全面系统测试，测试平台有 AIX、Solaris、HP-UX、无数的 Linux 版本，甚至是 Mac OS X 系统，所有一切就是为了确保 R2 能和这些系统水乳交融。”
作为一名 Unix 老兵，Hilf 相信他正协助微软创造未来的 Windows 系统，明日的系统要远胜于今日的 Windows 和 Linux 系统。
他总结：“归根到底，我们是为了商机无限才这么作的。 我的存在是公司商业思维的考量结果，即不是为了所谓的面子工程，也不是为了向对手抛橄榄枝（施加善意）的。”
At Microsoft, the yin and yang of Linux
August 12, 2005
Ina Fried， Staff Writer, CNET News.com
As Microsoft's director of platform technology strategy, Bill Hilf spends half his time trying to figure out ways Windows can work better with Linux and the other half trying to outflank the open-source rival.
Of course, he doesn't describe it quite that starkly.
"My life is like a yin and a yang," he said in an interview at this week's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco. "There is just as much time thinking about the competitive...as there is about the cooperation/interoperability/opportunity. It's equal time."
MicrosoftMicrosoft's Linux and Open Source Software Lab serves as both a place to examine the threat posed to Microsoft products by open-source offerings and a venue for testing software from Microsoft and others that's designed to span that divide. The lab is home to hundreds of servers and desktops that run dozens of different types of Linux and Unix.
The lab's dual purpose reflects an evolution in Microsoft's mindset when it comes to Linux and open-source software.
Linux is still seen as a competitor that needs to be addressed head-on. The company spends plenty of time and money on its anti-Linux "Get the Facts" campaign, for example.
At the same time, though, Microsoft seems to have accepted that Linux is not going away, and the company wants to make sure it's not turning off customers--or leaving dollars on the table--by ignoring its very real rival.
It's been almost two years since Hilf joined Microsoft after a career managing Linux and Unix for corporations, a tour of duty that included a stint at IBM and the building of a Linux-based data center for dot-com retailer eToys.
Hilf said his conversations with Microsoft developers have evolved since he first joined the company.
"Originally there was a lot of 'tell me how this works versus my thing,'" he recalled. Until Hilf arrived and set up shop, Microsoft relied mainly on outside consultants to provide reports on how the other half lived.
Shrewder
These days, Microsoft is growing shrewder about open-source software. The Redmond, Wash., company has realized that some of its businesses--such as the management tools and Virtual Server units--can boost their bottom line by offering better Linux interoperability.
"Microsoft is a very opportunistic company," Hilf said. "It is looking for ways to increase its business. We want to continue to build software that sells well."
Hilf said that on the Redmond campus, in discussions with colleagues, he often finds himself acting as a proxy for a customer who runs Linux.
"They will come to me saying 'Hey, Bill, is this something you think Linux customers would really be interested in, or is this stupid?" Hilf said.
Hilf's ability to straddle the divide between the Windows and Linux worlds also makes him popular with Microsoft customers, who ask him for advice on getting the two to work together. "A lot of customers say, 'I have mixed stuff too; you must have figured out how to do blah, blah, blah,'" Hilf said.
Even setting up shop amid Redmond's all-Windows world was a challenge for Hilf.
He started with the ambitious goal of creating a server room with dozens of flavors of Linux, along with commercial Unix software from Sun Microsystems, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer. The goal, he said, was to have something "more mixed then any real, sane customer would have."
"No customer runs 40 different versions of Linux on 200 servers," he said. "It's silly."
But getting even one Linux machine via Microsoft's purchasing arm proved to be a challenge. Ditto for the other types of non-Microsoft gear he needed to set up the center.
"Half the stuff I needed to buy I couldn't even buy through our normal processes," Hilf said.
He sat down with Microsoft's internal IT folks to explain the Linux lab's needs. He found himself speaking a foreign tongue to a shop that acts as a test bed for Microsoft software but has little experience with rival products.
"As a policy, I don't run anything that competes with Microsoft," Microsoft CIO Ron Markezich said in a December interview with CNET News.com. "My goal is to make sure Microsoft products are the best products in the world. It's an easy choice for me, in that sense, to run Microsoft technology. We don't run Unix. We don't run Linux. We don't run Oracle. We're 100 percent Windows, SQL Server."
Not surprisingly, Markezich's underlings were a little stymied by Hilf's requests.
"After a lot of discussion, they said: 'We're going to put a piece of fiber through the wall. What you do from there is up to you. Just make sure you follow our security guidelines,'" Hilf recalled.
Inside the egg
Though the Linux lab chief was able to set up his own networking layers, it was a challenge to get access to things like e-mail and instant messaging. Even browsing the Internet was hard.
"We are this hugely mixed environment inside the egg of a totally Microsoft IT environment," Hilf said.
More than once, Hilf was thwarted by bugs--glitches in Microsoft software, glitches in open-source products and even in third-party software designed to help the two technologies talk to each other.
One example, Hilf said, was on the instant-messaging side. There was an IM client called Gaim that allowed connectivity to MSN instant messaging, but the program was not able to use the HTTP protocol, the only technology means available to Hilf. So he set his team of open-source software experts to write the needed patch. He submitted it to the open-source group that oversees Gaim's development and the changes were accepted.
"Now we can use it, and so can everyone else who uses Gaim," Hilf said.
In other cases, the glitches were on the Microsoft end, and Hilf said he let the Microsoft product teams know about them.
These days, Hilf is able to do more than just pass bug reports along to the Microsoft product teams. One big area of work focuses on the "R2" update to Windows Server 2003 that Microsoft plans for later this year. The update will include an overhaul of the current "Services For Unix" tools that currently ship with Windows.
"We're right now running a whole battery of tests across AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, tons and tons of Linux, even Mac OS X, making sure that (R2) really holds water," Hilf said.
As a lifetime Unix guy, Hilf believes he is helping Microsoft to help make Windows a better option for companies than either Windows or Linux are today.
"At the end of the day, we're in it for business reasons," he said. "I exist for business reasons. I do not exist as a PR stunt or as sort of an olive branch."－asap tr.
原文出处：DoNews.com