Yes, you read that right. SQL Server will be ported to Linux. Here’s the Blog post from Scott Guthrie.

http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/03/07/announcing-sql-server-on-linux/

Today I’m excited to announce our plans to bring SQL Server to Linux as well. This will enable SQL Server to deliver a consistent data platform across Windows Server and Linux, as well as on-premises and cloud. We are bringing the core relational database capabilities to preview today, and are targeting availability in mid-2017.

SQL Server on Linux will provide customers with even more flexibility in their data solution. One with mission-critical performance, industry-leading TCO, best-in-class security, and hybrid cloud innovations – like Stretch Database which lets customers access their data on-premises and in the cloud whenever they want at low cost – all built in.</em>

At first I thought it was April 1st already, but this appears to be the real deal. It was all the buzz on twitter yesterday afternoon. Some people excited about it, some not so much. My initial reaction was positive as I am an ex Unix/Linux guy anyway. I really enjoyed working on the platform and I would welcome it again. Of course that led to a night of sleep and a night of thinking, which just led to a lot of questions.

Will all of the SQL Server stack be ported? What about features like FCI and Availability Groups? Will it change the SQL Server security model? Who is Microsoft trying to compete with? I wonder how the performance will be comparatively speaking? Ooh look, shiny! Yes! A new market for presentations and demos. You can probably think of a couple dozen legit questions on your own. I am sure a lot of those questions will be answered/addressed over the next year and a half. It’s definitely an interesting decision and I can’t wait to see it all play out.

Most of all I welcome the potential opportunity to work with Linux again!