Microsoft to acquire GitHub - What does this mean for crypto?
In news confirmed this morning, Microsoft announced that they would be acquiring GitHub.
Information about the deal was first leaked last night by Bloomberg:
Then it was confirmed later this morning by Microsoft:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/4/17422788/microsoft-github-acquisition-official-deal
The deal is said to be worth $7.5 billion in stock and is expected to close later this year.
This acquisition is the second big splash made by CEO Satya Nadella following the $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn two years ago.
About GitHub:
GitHub is a large code repository that is very popular with developers.
Companies as well as developers host projects, code, and documents on the platform.
Currently, there are roughly 85 million repositories hosted on GitHub with over 28 million developers contributing to them.
GitHub currently hosts the bitcoin code and is also a favorite of many blockchain developers/projects.
How does this affect crypto?
At the moment that isn't entirely clear, though as you can see from the price action many market participants are thinking that it may.
Bitcoin sold off about half of the gains seen over the weekend when the news of the acquisition was released.
A prominent bitcoin developer is already calling for the bitcoin code to be moved to a different repository:
"Yes (we should move the code). No real hurry, but I expect this is the beginning of a long painful road of (GitHub) toward obsolence (sic), possibly ending the same way as codeplex did."
(Source: http://bitcoinist.com/microsoft-buy-github-bitcoin-devs-exit/)
Though after saying that, he was quick to add this:
"To be clear: many bitcoin core contributors already preferred moving to independently hosted infrastructure in the long run. This may or may not speed it up."
(Source: http://bitcoinist.com/microsoft-buy-github-bitcoin-devs-exit/)
As you might have guessed many in the crypto community did not like hearing their main repository acquired by a corporate entity, especially one like Microsoft.
Though, they say they are going to keep GitHub running the way it is, and perhaps they will as they have left LinkedIn mostly the way it was.
That being said there is already a mass migration over to a rival repository called GitLab.
(Source: http://bitcoinist.com/microsoft-buy-github-bitcoin-devs-exit/)
What do you think, is Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub going to have an affect on cryptocurrency projects?
Let me know in the comments below.
Stay informed my friends.
Image Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/4/17422788/microsoft-github-acquisition-official-deal
Follow me: @jrcornel
Wow, goodbye Github. LOL
Adding Micro$oft to Open Source is like adding oil to water.. It just isn't possible.
I remember how they got caught writing the code used in the UEFA bios system now used in modern computers - after claiming it was produced by an independent, open source group. Their code tags were found in the source code by investigators.
Who knows what they will get up to with access to so much of other people code - not to mention the private repositories. What a disaster!
Likely the cause of the crypto sell off today?
I don't know.. It seems crypto prices are more sensitive than an overweight, wealthy princess at times.. lol
I don't think Github's problems will cause crypto any serious problems.. It just means the code will have to be moved elsewhere.. Maybe we'll see REPO coins and a blockchain based successor to Github ;)
Blockhub anyone? ;)
Ha, that is a good analogy! Also the oil and water was pretty spot on as well.
Thanks, I've been around all this for a very long time.. the tech movers and shakers are like my extended family.. With Uncle Microsoft definitely being the one we don't like to talk about. lol
By the way, I notice you have a few witness votes spare - I would be eternally grateful if you would consider adding me to your list of recipients... I have a lot of good stuff planned for Steem this year, but I need all the help I can get.
What kinds of things do you have planned?
I have a background as a system architect and developer and have worked making systems for international investment banks, social software and various other industries. I have also put over 10 years into learning about holistic balance in systems, self and life - with the intention of finding real balance that works for everyone and that actually feels good instead of being annoying or just downright lame.
I have looked at Steem's flaws and its strong points over the last couple of years and written numerous posts about it. The main points of action I see being needed are:
Barriers to entry: Signing up, getting support and getting good work discovered are a big challenge/headache that is beyond most people's time budget. Steemit Inc. are in the process (Allegedly) of solving some of this, but I want to specifically see post discovery and signup dramatically improved. I am limited in my ability to solve this because I am not part of the team who is actually coding/producing the software, but I am opening to adding pull requests in Github (or somewhere else.. lol) if I think they will actually get actioned.
Providing features/tools that Steemit inc. are not providing: I have been quite concerned since early on at the rate at which new features and fixes get implemented to steemit.com. Given the budget available, I would have expected things to have moved on dramatically quicker here. There may be solid reasons for this, but I haven't really heard or seen them. My solution so far has been to gradually build up my own site that has useful features on it that are needed and missing from steemit and other sites.
Marketing Steem: There appears to be no actual marketing dept. at Steemit inc. - so much so that @promo-steem have had to take on the task themselves with private funding. They are having great success and forging connections with governments and organisers of major conferences. I help them from time to time and am in the process of connecting successful artists and creatives with the promotion of Steem.
There are other issues too, of course, but these are the ones most in my mind at the moment.
I have created steem ocean as a place to provide missing tools and data for the Steem blockchain and have a big list of things to add in the future that have been requested or that I have thought of. Currently I am very busy, but intend to get this done asap. The more support I have from witness votes, the more time I can put into things like this.
I also have a concept for an entirely new UI for Steem that implements an upgrade to the idea of 'proof of brain' that might solve a lot of the problems we have with regards imbalance and 'reward pool rape' etc.
I have partially made a design document, but I don't want to put more time into it until I know what's happening with SMTs and communities here - as they might mean I need to change the idea a lot.
My background and connections in music/media and other industries means I have a lot to offer and a lot of creative ideas here - I just need more timespace to act on them and that means being dedicated full time. I can't currently do that with my current level of witness payouts - but I am not that far away. :)
Also, in case you are interested - 3 of the top 19 witnesses are currently voting for me. Including one you vote for - Tim Cliff. Teamsteem hasn't yet free'd up a slot for me but he has said he thinks my posts are some of the very best on Steemit.. I'll keep nudging him from time to time ;)
Awesome! Thanks so much for your vote - It means a lot. :)
Also, I made a post on this issue of Github to see if I can rally the world into creating a blockchain replacement for it :)
https://steemit.com/technology/@ura-soul/microsoft-buys-github-com-how-about-a-blockchain-version-of-github-to-correct-this-mistake
holyshit, so not cool. they get access to all the private repos? we know they have no ethics...
guess we know why they did it now.
I see no reason why they wouldn't. I imagine their 'research' teams are bouncing off the walls right now!
Oil—>Water no better description
Totally confusing on the future; may lead to faster regulation of BTC by US regulators. BTC is getting too close to mainstream 😩
github died
This one always made me laugh and is marginally relevant.
It certainly looks weird to have this type of merger in place, but the immediate reaction to this is somewhat surprising to me. Thought a lot more techy people would like MS now as it sort of have revised it's image. Maybe not?
Microsoft is just trying to dominate the world with other means than Windows 10 as that didn't work... A lot of computers using Windows 10 disconnected from internet because the large updates were too big to fit to internal memory cards and caused constant slowdowns. The annoying popup when you have not updated to latest version also is very alarming signal.
Buckminster Fuller once said..." You never change things by fighting against the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.".
I am barely two weeks old here...but if you guys consider all parallel code to what Msoft has in gthub pedestrian code and take the coding to the next level...then it won't really matter what they come up with...does it? And match then upgrade for upgrade...or innovate on a level they cannot match by studying the limitations msoft is well known for...their bottlenecks...then crowd source on a more intense level by offering steem prizes for said innovations. And do so under deadlines. Many, many people seem to work better when there is a finite amount of time to get stuff done.
It is possible that Microsoft's entrance into cryptos this way is a signal that crypto is resting on their laurels...and like a stagnant pool of water...attracts larvae like Msoft. If the buzzard Gates has landed and isn't going anywhere...then is it not in Steem's best interest to innovate so hard it can never find itself hitched to a shitwagon? This will only be the first of more acquisitions to come so are the top dogs in Steem and its satellites armour plating itself so that when they hear the whistling...they know not to bend over for the soap? Replace GHTUB. Get together with other cryptos founders and see if building a permanent replacement is required, viable and desired...then proceed from there. It is a terrible thing to allow the buzzard to purchase a bottleneck where they can train their bloody AI by feeding data in it in real time...of real customer transactions. That is the reason for purchasing GHTUB yes? To plug real time data into an experimental and artificial intelligence like that movie Ex Machina where the dude fed world wide data into a neural matrix? Anyway...I think I will stop there. Peace guys...
I think the only multi millonaire i would let buy github without this negative would be the Richard Branson the Guy of the company Virgin.
What about Tim Draper? He is a billionaire... or John McAfee?
Microsoft is going to mess up github
Microsoft has long history of using code made by others and taking no responsibility if the code doesn't work or has any visual glitches or errors. This is just warning sign of their own development team and quality assurance team behind grossly incompetent.
I was like okay... this doesn’t even make sense what does Microsoft have to gain? I’m missing something
Access to the talent pool....and code.
Drag all projects that currently work with Amazon to their cloud platforms.
Stealing a part of the pie of the online business, the one related to the applications directly, from the birth of the own apps.
It seems little to you.
It is a clear attack against AWS. From my distant point of view. The medium and small developers and companies are working on AWS. But, if they possess the code in Github, and directly from Github they offer them executable services in cloud in Microsoft platforms..
have gone to the root of the developers to offer them services that counteract those of AWS.
(-sorry for the bad english-)
People just like to overreact and go into religious arguments. MS has done a ton for software development, both proprietary and open source. Why would MS be a thread for open source? It's open source, so accessible anyway. Why would MS be a thread to closed source github projects? Because it is evil, because it is a for profit company? What do you think github is? Also a for profit company, one with a terrible management hence the look for a buyer. Git is a distributed version control system but in practice most of the time a master branch is centralized somewhere. Github just happens to be one of the most popular solutions but by no means is it a big issue to move. I see absolutely no reason for open source projects to move except for religious arguments. Oh, and the oil-water argument. What about all the software microsoft opensources themselves? The popular visual studio code, .net runtime, all efforts to move towards *nix friendlyness, typescript, ... To say this has influence on crypto is total nonsense coming from people who absolutely don't know what they are talking about.
Edit: for some balanced discussion: an excellent read: Everyone complaining about Microsoft buying GitHub needs to offer a better solution
Yes, as VSCode that develops it first, it "sells" it as a free code but is under a proprietary license As it has done with so many other things. Sure, that you are talking about this.
Or xamarin that leaves the code open, but almost everything that exists about the project. It is associated with the services in the cloud of the own microsoft.. Or about how it seeks to make money from the absurd or more stupid unemployed, through selling crappy courses about office and powerpoint through linkedin and slideshare. Courses and information that is free through any place. But, as it is training signed and sealed by Microsoft, it's cool.
Microsoft tries to do what it has always done. Benefit and take advantage of the less savvy, and the world is full of them. This time with the new developers and programmers. With the least experts or small and medium enterprises.
People will never forget what Microsoft has done in the past... A few good things they have done recently doesn't balance the numerous bad things they have done since they got more popular in the PC-compatible operating system markets than IBM.