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# Microsoft Might Be Rebasing Azure on Fedora Linux
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/azure-linux-fedora-rebase-speculation/
- Published: 2026-04-28T09:41:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-28T09:41:46.000Z
- Description: Chatter from a Fedora developer meeting points to Microsoft wanting to shift Azure Linux closer to Fedora.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: News

Microsoft's in-house Linux distribution, [Azure Linux](https://github.com/microsoft/azurelinux?ref=itsfoss.com), may be heading for a significant overhaul. According to a [recent report](https://www.phoronix.com/news/MS-Azure-Linux-Fedora-Based?ref=itsfoss.com), the Big Tech giant is reportedly exploring the idea of rebasing Azure Linux on [Fedora](https://fedoraproject.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), which would be a notable shift in how the distribution is built and maintained.

Azure Linux, which longtime followers of the Linux space may know better as [CBL-Mariner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure%5FLinux?ref=itsfoss.com), has been Microsoft's internal Linux OS powering Azure services, WSL, Azure Local, and more since 2020.

It is already [RPM](https://rpm.org/?ref=itsfoss.com)\-based, so a move toward Fedora would not be a complete departure from its existing foundation, but it would represent a serious overhaul.

![a cropped screenshot of the fedora eln sig meeting on april 21 that shows conversation between neal gompa and yaakov selkowitz](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/04/excerpt-from-eln-sig-meeting-april-21-2026.png)

**The conversation between Neal Gompa (conan\_kudo) and Yaakov Selkowitz (yselkowitz).*

It all came to light from the recent [Fedora ELN SIG](https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/ELN?ref=itsfoss.com) meeting on [April 21](https://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/meeting-1%5Fmatrix%5Ffedoraproject-org/2026-04-21/eln.2026-04-21-16.00.log.html?ref=itsfoss.com). During a discussion about [a proposed Fedora change](https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f45-change-proposal-build-x86-64-v3-packages-systemwide/187943?ref=itsfoss.com) to build x86-64-v3 packages for Fedora 45, it was pointed out that [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com/?ref=itsfoss.com) is one of the driving forces behind this proposal.

The change proposal was put forward jointly by [Kyle Gospodnetich](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylegospo/?ref=itsfoss.com), a Linux engineer at Microsoft, alongside Lleyton Gray and Owen Zimmerman of Fyra Labs. Microsoft's interest appears to be tied to Azure Linux's need for x86-64-v3 performance gains, which is part of what is driving the rebase idea.

[Fyra Labs](https://fyralabs.com/?ref=itsfoss.com), which is reportedly launching its own cloud service and wants x86-64-v3 support for Fedora and [Ultramarine Linux](https://ultramarine-linux.org/?ref=itsfoss.com), is also co-authoring the proposal.

It is worth noting that the x86-64-v3 change proposal still needs to be approved by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo) before anything moves forward.

There had also been talk of **forking the whole distribution to achieve this**, but Microsoft was steered toward working within the Fedora ecosystem instead.

On the surface, all of this sounds promising. As [a Redditor pointed out](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1svdqcd/comment/oi7er6f/?ref=itsfoss.com), since Fedora is effectively upstream [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux?ref=itsfoss.com), the move makes logical sense on paper.

That said, Microsoft has a history of open source commitments that lose steam over time. If they can properly follow through here, contribute meaningfully to Fedora, and not treat it as a one-way resource tap, this could genuinely be good for the ecosystem.

All of that is ***a big if***, but it is worth watching closely.

---

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