Microsoft Buys Coding Platform GitHub for $7.5 Billion

Microsoft has announced that it will buy GitHub. The deal will be done for $7.5 billion. What is GitHub? Why are people concerned about this? Why did Microsoft decide to buy GitHub? This article will help you to find answers to all these questions.

About GitHub

GitHub is an open-source platform. It was founded in 2011 and it has become an integral part of such corporations as Google, Amazon and Apple. So why did GitHub become so famous? GitHub is “like google docs for developers.” It allows to collaborate and share ideas easily. Thanks to its features and open-source licensing the coding process is easier now - people can get access to code written by others and use it.

Why Github?

Open-source programs allow people share and improve code, and Microsoft was sceptical about such programs because this approach threatened Microsoft’s business model. It relied on proprietary technology. But Microsoft has changed and nowadays the company supports open-source technology. And buying GitHub proves that Microsoft is interested in connecting with developers and now it’s the company’s business model.

Did GitHub Have Problems?

GitHub had some leadership and financial issues. It lost $66 million over three quarters in 2016. Moreover, the company was looking for a new CEO since August 2017. That’s why GitHub was selling.

What do Developers Think?

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said “Microsoft is a developer-first company, and by joining forces with GitHub we strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation. We recognize the community responsibility we take on with this agreement and will do our best work to empower every developer to build, innovate and solve the world’s most pressing challenges.”

In spite of these statements, developers have mixed feelings. Some people think that there is no reason to be worried about:

Sad to see all these cheap negative quips about Github & Microsoft. MS has been doing some awesome work in Open Source recently (just look at VS Code), and hired some excellent people. I see no reason to be worried.

— Filippo Valsorda (@FiloSottile) June 4, 2018

Other developers are nervous about this news. They think that Microsoft will change the core values of the GitHub system. Someone sees a commercial reason - Microsoft buys GitHub to monitor trends in software development that will help to preclude competition.

But what do you think? Will this collaboration change the open-source technology?

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ClickHelp Team
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