MS's strategy with Github

[gi_jimbo]

I know many of you've distanced yourselves from Github recently but I was curious more on what you think Microsoft's play is in taking over Github. I hate it but I think it's a brilliant move. In my opinion, this is why:
It's been heavily used in the programming industry for long enough that a large enough number of MS devs are very familiar with it and had the Idea to integrate it directly into their IDE (with the goal of eventual exclusively). They've had the best IDE platform for the longest time running and wanted github because they realized that it's where every software with serious potential is hosted and wanted to bring that under their umbrella. Of anything that could give them a leg up on Google in the future, I'd say this is it.
Thoughts?

[moonbat]

It's just to woo the developer community, given they have always provided one of the best developer experiences in the form of Visual Studio. Microsoft's priorities have long changed, they are primarily a cloud services provider now. Azure is what drives the biggest contribution to their revenue now, Windows and web browsers are no longer important to them. You can see evidence for that with their having abandoned Edge's own engine and making it a Chrome wrapper instead, and the completely shitty and user hostile quality of Windows these days after having laid off the whole compatibility testing team.

[gi_jimbo]

Can you please expand on how Microsoft taking over Github woo's the developer community? I'd think it would do the opposite and they'd just hope enough of the devs just live with it as it's an easier pill to swallow than to find and transition to a Github alternative. The only pro I could see is github integration with the VS.

[moonbat]

I'm not saying it will definitely succeed, I was pointing out as their motivation for buying it. And yeah - VS integration will be a plus for them.

[gi_jimbo]

OK thanks for the clarification. So we think VS integration is definitely part of it. Do you think there's a broader scope strategy as well? As you said, Azure is their cash cow but in terms of shaping the future and having a strong foothold in software development in coming years I'd say it's a pretty smart play. Google has obviously become the webspace powerhouse but if anyone stands a chance of giving them some competition in the future, I'd say it's Microsoft. Taking Github into their wheelhouse certainly seems like a strong play in that direction.

Its definitely a shame how they've dropped the ball on Windows and Office in recent years. Maybe this move is what's needed to breathe new life into them. That's probably too optimistic of me. Time will tell I suppose.

[moonbat]

For years, Microsoft was opposed to Linux, mainly under Steve Ballmer who made some comment about destroying it. Same way they struggled to break into the mobile market, Windows Mobile was good for the time but never caught on and Nokia was a global leader in smartphones long before the iPhone or Android existed. Even sabotaging Nokia and then acquiring their mobile business didn't help. Finally under Nadella they have changed course. It has benefited the company and shareholders tremendously, but for end users of Windows, well...

For one - you now see Office apps on iOS/Android - something unthinkable under previous leadership. Nadella has gotten rid of what didn't work - Windows Phone, EdgeHTML being among them. An article I read somewhere pointed out that their revenue comes mainly from Azure, then Office365 subscriptions and only then Windows, which explains their decisions involving the latter.

We are in the future that Bill Gates was terrified of when Sun introduced Java applets in 1995 to run as applications in the browser and make the underlying OS irrelevant. The writing is on the wall that PC usage and by extension desktop OSes are going to shrink further and end up only being used by professionals; even now regular folk use the internet via mobile device more than PC and many have stopped owning PCs altogether. So it is an altogether smart move to reorient the company towards cloud services and secure its future. That's also why you see more collaboration with open source, addition of POSIX emulation and Linux commandline support to Windows and the aforementioned mobile apps - because Linux and mobile are no longer seen as threats or competition. AWS and Google Cloud are their new competition.

[gi_jimbo]

Thanks, that gives some good context. I appreciate your input. Taking on Github certainly fits well into that plan. Too bad they went the way they did with it. I wonder if it had something to do with the integration implementation. I really know next to nothing about the mechanics except that it broke Github for me because I use Pale Moon. Keep going strong against the new mold guys, I'm sure I'm just one of many who really appreciate all the work you put in to making a secure yet flexible browser.

[moonbat]

I wonder if it had something to do with the integration implementation

That's possible, and not the first time - Yahoo is famous for royally fucking up beloved web properties that they acquired - Flickr and Delicious. They forced Flickr users to link their accounts to a Yahoo account (leading to protests by those who didn't want to) and let it die on the vine by delaying launching a mobile app when smartphone use was on the rise from 2011 onwards, resulting in Instagram eating their lunch. They sold it to another party now who very cleverly restricts free accounts by number of photos allowed to upload (limit of 1000) rather than storage space consumed. Delicious was similarly bought and ignored for years, before being sold to its paid service competitor Pinboard, who promptly shut it down.
Github's indifference to Moonchild's requests to change their website code are also well documented here.
Acquisition of startups by large companies rarely ever ends well for their users.

[Drugwash]

Has anyone ever thought of - or even read - their terms of service, privacy policy and the works? I bet everything posted on their servers automatically becomes their property and therefore usable one way or another in their paid products. So suckers publish free code - gaining nothing, not even fame - that M$ gain money on.
I think that's their main idea, the rest is perks.

[moonbat]

I bet everything posted on their servers automatically becomes their property

If it did, you can bet there would've been a huge ruckus the moment the takeover was announced.

See for yourself.
It talks about using your 'personal data' for marketing but it's a fair bet that doesn't cover your source code.

[Drugwash]

All so-called services do it and people still use those services. Probably because they just can't read. Or understand. Or both.

[moonbat]

Do you understand the difference between harvesting personal data that everybody does and saying that your source code hosted on Github belongs to them, effectively neutering whatever open source license you may have released it under? Microsoft aren't complete fucking retards even if you were to judge them by what they've done to Windows after version 7.

[Drugwash]

Can't debate legal issues myself but I'm sure their army of lawyers could find a way out if somehow somebody would find proof.
Anyway it's getting too tense here. Let 'em do whatever they want, I'll try to stay as far away from GitHub as possible. Me over and out.

[moonbat]

It's not their lawyers but others who would've immediately pointed it out if they had included such a clause, with all the negative publicity that would go with it. Microsoft under its new CEO is actively wooing the open source community and contributing to them, something unthinkable under both Ballmer and Gates. Again, understandable given their complete change of strategy towards becoming a cloud services company rather than an OS maker.