Ballmer is still Microsoft's single largest shareholder, and he has seen his personal wealth grow dramatically under Nadella’s tenure. You’re telling me he hates Linux so much that he’s willing to tank his own fortune, to the tune of billions of dollars, to stab ineffectually at it? Please.
Nobody at Microsoft ever had a committed ideological opposition to Linux, it was a pragmatic decision based on what they perceived as a threat to their business. That certainly doesn’t negate the damage of all the shit they pulled, but it does mean that it is highly unlikely that they’re going to reverse course and start extinguishing Linux for ideological reasons now that they’ve figured out how to make money without Linux being the enemy.