Microsoft announced last year that they had acquired Github, the most popular version control system for software development. There were many projections and opinions. Two perspectives were expressed at the top: either Microsoft was advancing open source or they were going after GitHub.
We now have some perspective about how Microsoft did things and how GitHub has changed by fall 2019. We’ll be looking back at the details of the purchase, as well as the predictions made last year, and examining what has happened since then.
Microsoft Acquires GitHub at $7.5 Billion
In June 2018, Microsoft announced that they would buy GitHub for $7.5 Billion. People immediately began talking about it. People began to wonder what they would do to cover the large investment made by Microsoft.
Some users switched to GitLab because of the acquisition. The trust that GitHub has earned was a lot. However, some users didn’t trust Microsoft as much. Microsoft would have access to a lot important data. Google is one of the many companies that host code on GitHub. Critics also wondered what Google would think if Microsoft had access to their code.
Learn how to become a security expert with SPOTO’s Cybersecurity Training
Start training In October 2018, the European Union regulators approved this acquisition. Microsoft officially acquired the largest source code repository in the world on October 26.
The Early Forecast for GitHub
No one knew what to expect when Microsoft acquired GitHub at the time. Everyone was an expert on the subject, the internet being the internet. Some people went so far as to accuse Microsoft of destroying everything they touched. The majority of the criticism came from people who disapprove of Microsoft in general.
This Reddit thread and this one provide a snapshot of the negative sentiment. Several themes may be common: lack of trust in Microsoft; fear that GitHub will be shut down or ruined; worries about being forced to watch advertisements.
Others just wanted to wait and see what would happen.
Some of these concerns are justified. Microsoft has not had the best reputation for open source in the past. They were open about it and spoke out against it. Their then-CEO called Linux a “cancer” in 2001. Many people were naturally curious about Microsoft’s motivations after they had spoken out against open-source so often in the past.
There were also concerns about Microsoft’s plans for the data. GitHub created a large community that hosted a lot of source code. Microsoft now owns the entire platform where the source code was hosted. Concerns about whether Microsoft would attempt to monetize Github were well-founded due to the investment Microsoft made.
There were many others who were optimistic about this deal. Microsoft could help GitHub turn the corner. GitHub was not doing well financially. This deal would give GitHub a lot of resources, which could be good for growth and a bright future.
Microsoft’s negative view of open source seems to have disappeared. Over the past few decades, Microsoft has done a lot to embrace open-source and Linux. This point is reinforced by events such as the development of WSL — Windows Subsystem For Linux — and a host of other Microsoft open-source projects.
Steve Ballmer, the ex-CEO who called Linux cancer, has claimed that he “loved” a SQL for Linux announcement. Microsoft also stated that GitHub would remain independent and remain an open platform.
What Really Happened After Microsoft Acquired GitHub
We now have the benefit and perspective of a year since the deal was closed and Microsoft has acquired GitHub.
Let’s start by expressing our fear at Microsoft choosing a p.
