[2018-06-04]MICROSOFT TO BUY GITHUB: BITCOIN DEVS CALL FOR EXIT

[Diabolov]

Bitcoin core developers are among those reacting angrily to news Microsoft has reportedly acquired GitHub in a deal worth at least $2 billion.

BITCOIN DEVELOPERS CALL FOR GITHUB EXIT
The takeover, which anonymous sources claim should see an official announcement later Monday, has led to multiple calls to remove Bitcoin activity from the code repository.

Github had previously stated it would strive to remain independent, even planning an IPO in 2017. The company’s CEO and co-founder Chris Wanstrath resigned in August, with executives “struggling” to find a suitable replacement since, Business Insider reported when it first broke the news Friday.

Bitcoin development has traditionally used the website as a global participation environment. Unsurprisingly, news of a corporate takeover failed to impress community figures, who demanded Bitcoin activity be taken elsewhere.

“Yes,” Bitcoin core developer Wladimir J. van der Laan wrote on Twitter when asked whether developers should abandon GitHub permanently.

“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,” he explained.

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.

RIVAL SERVICE SEES 10X GROWTH
Others continued the narrative that Microsoft would stunt the project’s potential.

“There is no GitHub replacement, we all know (Microsoft) will run it into the ground,” one Twitter comment reads in response to criticism of the potential bill Microsoft paid for ownership.

In future, Bitcoin development could move to rival independent service GitLab, a trending hashtag #movingtogitlab already doing the rounds online.

On Sunday, two days after the Microsoft rumors began circulating, the company reported ten times the usual number of projects migrating amid efforts to keep up with demand.

“We’re scaling our fleet to try to stay up,” officials announced, reproducing data confirming the giant spike in migration from GitHub.

http://bitcoinist.com/microsoft-buy-github-bitcoin-devs-exit/

[IconFirm]

I just logged on to my account & saw the news - this is sickening. Never thought I'd see the day Github sell out to the devil.

Words fail me.  Let the exodus begin.....

[vit05]

People still think that Microsoft is the same as 10 years ago. And they do not see that there could be a possibility of this purchase being positive. Besides, where would they move? Sourceforge is horrible. Maybe Gitlab.
What is important is if a migration movement does occur, that it is discussed with the community rather than a decision taken exclusively by the project leaders. I'm not just talking about Bitcoin. But today, the entire ecosystem of cryptocurrencies is based on GitHub. I hope decisions on this change will keep in mind that a wrong decision can hurt everyone.

[richardsNY]

I just logged on to my account & saw the news - this is sickening. Never thought I'd see the day Github sell out to the devil.

Words fail me.  Let the exodus begin.....

I can't agree more, but in the same way I can't say that I am surprised. I strongly believe that in the coming years we'll see the corporations we currently dislike try to take over Coinbase, Bitstamp, Gemini, Xapo, Blockchain, etc. Important is the fact that everything in this market is low of value, where the few billion valuations of certain crypto related companies are an absolute joke for traditional corporations. Microsoft alone has more than $40 billion in cash to throw around with, and then I haven't even counted how much more they can buy when combining it with MSFT shares....

[IconFirm]

I just logged on to my account & saw the news - this is sickening. Never thought I'd see the day Github sell out to the devil.

Words fail me.  Let the exodus begin.....

I can't agree more, but in the same way I can't say that I am surprised. I strongly believe that in the coming years we'll see the corporations we currently dislike try to take over Coinbase, Bitstamp, Gemini, Xapo, Blockchain, etc. Important is the fact that everything in this market is low of value, where the few billion valuations of certain crypto related companies are an absolute joke for traditional corporations. Microsoft alone has more than $40 billion in cash to throw around with, and then I haven't even counted how much more they can buy when combining it with MSFT shares....

I'm in the process of importing everything over to Gitlab right now - looks like they're struggling to keep up with demand though, their site & import tools are pretty slow due to the mass exodus. GOOD - no dev worth their salt will trust Github while they're under Microsoft surveillance radar.

RIP Github.

[Betwrong]

It is already confirmed that Microsoft is buying GitHub for $7.5 billion. What I don't understand is why are some people so angry about that? Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it? Because in my opinion they will do all in their power to keep the platform alive with its more than 28 million developers. They surely don't want an exodus of any kind otherwise they wouldn't pay $7.5 billion to acquire GitHub. I think they just want their name was associated with it for promotional purposes, that's all. CMIIW.

[Carlton Banks]

Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it?

Why would MS want to kill Nokia? Or Skype? Or Office? Or Windows (lol). But they either did or are in the process of doing so, Windows will be no different to owning an X Box or a Nintendo console once MS have completed their latest "tech" roadmap

[InvoKing]

Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it?

Why would MS want to kill Nokia? Or Skype? Or Office? Or Windows (lol). But they either did or are in the process of doing so, Windows will be no different to owning an X Box or a Nintendo console once MS have completed their latest "tech" roadmap

I abandoned Nokia and Skype years ago but unfortunately I still need Windows and office
Microsoft is acting like an old dude collecting classic stuff and keeping it in his closet with as little as possible renovation...

For github cannot bitcoin.org/bitcointalk.org create its own repository?

[Hamphser]

Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it?

Why would MS want to kill Nokia? Or Skype? Or Office? Or Windows (lol). But they either did or are in the process of doing so, Windows will be no different to owning an X Box or a Nintendo console once MS have completed their latest "tech" roadmap

They do have the power and the capability on buying up things on they want but questions on mind why MS do make such step and spending up $7.5B. There would be always a purpose neither on positive or negative. I cant blame if bitcoin devs call for exit on this one. Just like been said above i dont even trust when you are under on MS surveilance.

[BitHodler]

The only good thing is that just like governments with their regulations, these developments help pushing everything Bitcoin related towards more decentralization. How long would it otherwise take to change? Years?

Peer to peer markets are literally exploding in usage, decentralized exchanges are becoming more and more mainstream, decentralized applications are becoming more and more mainstream, and so forth.

Everything we go through right now will benefit everyone here in the long term. Governments and the mainstream tech companies shoot themselves in the foot with how they try to own the market. It works against them.

[Carlton Banks]

I abandoned Nokia and Skype years ago but unfortunately I still need Windows and office

There's nothing stopping you using Linux and Libre Office, even if it's for your job (unless it's a company laptop, of course). The secret: provide native Office files, and just don't tell anyone

Microsoft is acting like an old dude collecting classic stuff and keeping it in his closet with as little as possible renovation...

They can't seem to make a success out of anything they buy up either. Seriously, alot of damage could be done to MS right now if people just stopped buying computers with Windows pre-installed, there's more choice than there used to be in that regard these days.
 

For github cannot bitcoin.org/bitcointalk.org create its own repository?

There's talk of doing something like that already, I think Gitlab and Gitea would be the main options. It's good this happened, "decentralise all the things" etc.

[bbc.reporter]

It is already confirmed that Microsoft is buying GitHub for $7.5 billion. What I don't understand is why are some people so angry about that? Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it? Because in my opinion they will do all in their power to keep the platform alive with its more than 28 million developers. They surely don't want an exodus of any kind otherwise they wouldn't pay $7.5 billion to acquire GitHub. I think they just want their name was associated with it for promotional purposes, that's all. CMIIW.

Microsoft has one of the worst software policies but the real threat is on copyleft. Microsoft might require all copyleft software, that they host on Github, to make them exempt from the copyleft, GPL terms.

That is very dangerous for FOSS.

[Kakmakr]

The migration from GitHub to other platforms like Gitlab and Gitea and Sourceforge will only make those platforms stronger and more popular. In the end, GitHub will implode and Microsoft will have bought a platform that are not as popular as before.

Nothing is stopping our talented developers and out huge Bitcoin community to fund and develop our own version of a independent and decentralized repository platform. 

[Betwrong]

Thank you, guys for all of your replies. Trust me, I don't work for Microsoft. I don't even use any of their products, as far as I know. And yes, I remember that when I was using Windows the experience had been disappointing. I'm just so much opposed to any kind of conspiracy theories, and especially to the "Enemy Above" kind, that every time I hear someone saying something against the USA or any big company like Coca-Cola, Apple or Microsoft I start to argue and sometimes I overplay my hand or even cross the line. I'm really sorry for that, especially if someone was offended. Thanks for correcting me and I appreciate your explanations. I think you are right most likely and if Microsoft will not change its approach to technologies in the nearest future, then it is bad news.

[Carlton Banks]

Thank you, guys for all of your replies. Trust me, I don't work for Microsoft. I don't even use any of their products, as far as I know. And yes, I remember that when I was using Windows the experience had been disappointing. I'm just so much opposed to any kind of conspiracy theories, and especially to the "Enemy Above" kind

everything people dislike about Microsoft tends to be based on facts, not theories. And companies like Microsoft stick fairly closely to the law, so there's little chance you'll ever catch them doing anything illegal, I don't know why you'd feel the need to dismiss such a thing

[darkangel11]

Microsoft Virus strikes once again. And this is the same company that made win 95 and 98 that I used to run everything for years as a child and then teenager. They had their good and bad products but their newest windows and office editions are really a disaster. I haven't seen anybody using their newest products for some time, everybody switched to open office and internet explorer has long been only used in jokes. I agree that people should switch and let github die, especially since there are similar projects. What will Microsoft do then? Buy out Gitlab too?

[Betwrong]

Thank you, guys for all of your replies. Trust me, I don't work for Microsoft. I don't even use any of their products, as far as I know. And yes, I remember that when I was using Windows the experience had been disappointing. I'm just so much opposed to any kind of conspiracy theories, and especially to the "Enemy Above" kind

everything people dislike about Microsoft tends to be based on facts, not theories. And companies like Microsoft stick fairly closely to the law, so there's little chance you'll ever catch them doing anything illegal, I don't know why you'd feel the need to dismiss such a thing

I agree, there's no need to dismiss such a thing. I think, from now on Microsoft will be excluded from a list of big corporations which I normally protect when they are attacked. Your words, the words of others in this thread and my own experience that I remembered have convinced me that Microsoft can actually mismanage things. I still think that big companies are not that bad as their attackers think of them but apparently Microsoft is an exception.

[Carlton Banks]

I still think that big companies are not that bad as their attackers think of them but apparently Microsoft is an exception.

It comes down to whether they're good for the market place or bad for the market place IMO. Corporations are good in one way: they're very smart when it comes to minimising their tax bills, which I thoroughly approve of (although I wish they'd be more aggressive TBH, maybe deteriorating gov finances + use of Bitcoin could help there). The bad with corporations is that they often become monopolies and behave anti-competitively (Microsoft being a good example). But the answer is for every business to become a corporation (or just don't register as a business anywhere), there's nothing stopping anyone from opening up a bunch of Caribbean shell companies to avoid taxes, then the playing field evens out more. It's impossible to stop small island nations setting up liberal legislation and tax policies for big companies to use, islands are trying to compete in a global marketplace too.

[S3cco]

Destroying Skype and Nokia was not enough. I pray for GitHub.      

[marcus_of_augustus]

It is already confirmed that Microsoft is buying GitHub for $7.5 billion. What I don't understand is why are some people so angry about that? Can someone elaborate on what Microsoft can possibly do to kill GitHub as we know it? Because in my opinion they will do all in their power to keep the platform alive with its more than 28 million developers. They surely don't want an exodus of any kind otherwise they wouldn't pay $7.5 billion to acquire GitHub. I think they just want their name was associated with it for promotional purposes, that's all. CMIIW.

we shall see as soon as they start changing their terms of service ... Facebook did it with WhatsApp, sucked out all the user data (messages, contacts, everything) into Facebook servers even if you had never had anything to do with them. Microsoft's lawyers are going to want to get their $7.5 billion somehow and 'monetising' Github will look a whole lot like dataraping the developers brains that they have selflessly placed into the trust of Github in my maybe naive estimation.