Microsoft Rebranding CBL-Mariner Linux Distribution To "Azure Linux"

Microsoft's in-house Linux distribution used for a variety of purposes had been known as CBL-Mariner for "Common Base Linux" while now it appears to be in the process of transitioning to Azure Linux.

Not to be confused with Microsoft's Azure Sphere Linux-based OS as a platform for IoT/microcontroller use, Azure Linux is evolving out of CBL-Mariner.

With releasing today CBL-Mariner 2.0.20240301, it's now redirecting to the project Microsoft/AzureLinux on GitHub. The CBL-Mariner repository has been renamed to "AzureLinux" and other references to CBL-Mariner have been transitioned to Azure Linux branding as well while some CBL-Mariner marks remain.

Within the new v2.0.20240301 release are also some source updates beginning to rename artifacts such as going from "MARINER_VERSION" to "AZL_VERSION" for Azure Linux.

It will be interesting to find out the motivation for this apparent re-branding / evolution of CBL-Mariner now to Azure Linux and if Microsoft will be better positioning their in-house Linux platform publicly or what other changes may be coming down the pipe for Azure Linux.