LF: Linux is the operating system of the cloud
One of the most common concerns that analysts and other advisers have for potential cloud customers is the lack of standards, and the resulting potential for lockin. For all of the advantages in deployment speed and flexibility, the nascent stage of many cloud offerings and the absence of common, agreed upon formats for packaging, runtimes, and virtual images introduces risk. Fortunately, customers can leverage Linux as a hedge against this possibility. The differences between Linux instances hosted in cloud environments and those hosted locally or at a data center, after all, are generally less technical than geographical. By standardizing on Linux workloads, customers will have the flexibility to deploy locally or remotely as the economics and circumstances dictate."