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Microsoft acquires GitHub for some loose change

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You've probably seen all the rumours and now it's official with the Microsoft announcement, they're acquiring GitHub.

I'm only slightly joking about loose change too, with the deal being $7.5 billion in Microsoft stock. Sounds like a huge amount to us mere mortals, but to Microsoft that's still probably change that fell down the back of their massive sofa.

I know this isn't specifically gaming news, but it's a pretty big piece of news to take into consideration. Why? Well, with so many open source games, toolkits and many more important open source projects being hosted only on GitHub, it may cause alarm to some developers. However, I'm trying to look at this with a cool head. I've already seen talks of mass migrations to GitLab, for example:

We're seeing 10x the normal daily amount of repositories #movingtogitlab https://t.co/7AWH7BmMvM We're scaling our fleet to try to stay up. Follow the progress on https://t.co/hN0ce379SC and @movingtogitlab

— GitLab (@gitlab) June 3, 2018

With that out of the way, let's look at this key part of the announcement I think is important for people to make sure they read:

GitHub will retain its developer-first ethos and will operate independently to provide an open platform for all developers in all industries. Developers will continue to be able to use the programming languages, tools and operating systems of their choice for their projects — and will still be able to deploy their code to any operating system, any cloud and any device.

Emphasis mine.

So, business as usual for now. Sure, the Microsoft of old used the term "Embrace, extend, and extinguish", so it does pay to remain cautious, but I wouldn't go completely nuts over this.

I mean, look at Mojang. Microsoft acquired them back in 2014 and has anything actually changed—no. The Java edition of Mojang is still full steam ahead and works fine on Linux as always. I heard only recently they took on more staff, one of which said they would be specifically taking a look at getting their new launcher officially supported on Linux (I can't back that up right now, because I'm a moron and didn't copy it down at the time).

GitHub is still very useful and likely will remain so, but I am quite a fan of GitLab personally, which you can even run yourself (always the better choice to do—if you can). Just remember, don't keep all your eggs in one basket. It's going to be very interesting to see what the open source movement does as a result of this.

What are your thoughts?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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69 comments
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somebody1121 Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: Shmerl
Quoting: somebody1121Now i understand why mesa starts moving to gitlab...

I don't think it's related. Mesa was self hosted and will be self hosted, they are just going to use Gitlab instead of Gitweb + Bugzilla and etc.

Maybe you are right but the timing of their migration make me suspect, and also i won't be surprise if more big projects start moving.
Rhythagoras Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: MakiI deleted my account there when the news broke.

Same
somebody1121 Jun 4, 2018
What i don't understand is why buy github? Competitors sites provide similar if not better experience and they are cheaper. The only consequence it's going to have is getting a rapid growth in sites like gitlab.
Doc Angelo Jun 4, 2018
Yeah... I remember what Elop Microsoft did to Nokia. Nothing good will come out of this. I just deleted my account. I hope GitHub goes down as quick as possible.
Tiedemann Jun 4, 2018
They can f*** off. Tired of these idiots tbh.
BFG9000 Jun 4, 2018
R.I.P. Github - 2008-2018
Dunc Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: ElvanexTo me, it is quite apparent that they are deep into the extend phase with minecraft... Won't be too much longer until they determine that that java version "no longer offers any benefit to consumers" or some such nonsense.
Yep. As I said, I expect Notch was very careful with his conditions of sale, which is why it didn't go pear-shaped within six months. But that's also what worries me about the rebranding of the main version and this new “Bedrock” edition: it looks suspiciously like some kind of workaround.
scaine Jun 4, 2018
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Quoting: MakiI deleted my account there when the news broke.

I did the same. Delighted to discover that "scaine" is available on GitLab too, so I've registered there for now. I wonder if there's a way to report on Github account numbers? I'd love to see if this news had any material effect on account numbers, or if it's just a case of the "Tim Sweeneys" - complaining loudly, but not actually doing anything about it.
Avehicle7887 Jun 4, 2018
Looks like my small project will be moving home, Microsoft simply cannot be trusted.
Nanobang Jun 4, 2018
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From the beginning, everything Microsoft (why don't I see more penis jokes about their name?) has done has been not only about improving their bottom line by improving themselves and their product, but also damaging, killing, buying out their competition.. They have done nothing worthy of anyone's trust, but perhaps trusting Microsoft to fuck people over and take away every freedom they can.

I'm glad to see so many people here saying that they left or are going to leave Github, it's reassuring to see that the Linux and Foss community are aware that Github is no more. Everything Microsoft touches turns to shit. Profitable shit, but shit all the same.
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