A few hours ago GitHub announced that Microsoft is buying the code repository platform for 7.5 billion dollars. For the most people not having anything to do with software development, GitHub is probably a complete stranger and requires some introduction.
The banner of the blog post announcing the acquisition of GitHub by Microsoft. Source: github.com
GitHub a platform designed to make collaboration between software developers easier. The platform is built around the famous version control system (VCS) git which was initialized by Linus Torvalds, head of the Linux kernel development. The system keeps track of code changes and makes it possible to roll-back to earlier versions.
GitHub has become the go-to place to host public git repositories. The service is available for free with no ads but limited functionality. Some big organizations like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are also hosting code on GitHub.
Since GitHub offers a lot of smart features to improve the development process of software-projects for free the platform is home to a variety of open source software. For some of these projects, their repositories are just a mirror of their internal system, for some others, the whole development process is handled on the platform. Either way, the importance of GitHub for modern software development and especially open-source projects is undeniable.
The importance of the platform is the main reason why the acquisition raises so many concerns. On Twitter #movetogitlab is showing a lot of people moving their repositories to the famous GitHub alternative GitLab. Even though movetogitlab seems quite similar to the fairly unsuccessful deletefacebook hashtag it is time to clarify some things.
First and most important: Microsoft has changed. Not too long ago Microsoft wasn't anything like open-source friendly. Major products like the .NET runtime were all proprietary and it didn't seem like there was any interest in changing this. Under the current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella things have changed quite a bit. Microsoft has become the most active company contributing to open-source software on GitHub. The repositories cover a variety of product categories like the machine-learning framework CNTK, compiler tools, IDE add-ons and programming/scripting languages. And it's not like these products aren't used anywhere else. TypeScript, a JavaScript-based language designed and developed by Microsoft, is used by Google's Angular and a bunch of other not Microsoft related products.
Not everything that seems like a failure is a failure. A lot of people claim that GitHub will go down because other Microsoft products like Windows Mobile and Nokia died and Bing and Edge don't seem like a giant success either. Windows Mobile and the Nokia acquisition didn't happen and the current CEO and the death of Nokia was not entirely Microsoft's fault. Windows Mobile suffered from the same problems as other alternative mobile operating systems suffer today: lack of apps and limited hardware. Bing and Edge aren't close to being market leaders, but they aren't close to death either. Edge has, according to netmarketshare, a total marketshare of 4.15%. The marketshare of Bing in the United States is as high as 33% (Source: statista). Both, Edge and Bing, aren't bad products. They are just not as good as the marketleaders in some regards.
Why the aquisition is a good thing
Only the future can tell wether the aquistion was a good or a bad decision. However, personally I think GitHub will become stronger than ever before. GitHub was searching for a new CEO for a while now, this role is now going to be taken by Xamarin founder Nat Friedman. GitHub will contiunue to operate independently. Both companies can profit from their extensive knowledge and successful collaboration over the last years.