You've probably seen all the rumours and now it's official with the Microsoft announcement, they're acquiring GitHub.
I'm only slightly joking about loose change too, with the deal being $7.5 billion in Microsoft stock. Sounds like a huge amount to us mere mortals, but to Microsoft that's still probably change that fell down the back of their massive sofa.
I know this isn't specifically gaming news, but it's a pretty big piece of news to take into consideration. Why? Well, with so many open source games, toolkits and many more important open source projects being hosted only on GitHub, it may cause alarm to some developers. However, I'm trying to look at this with a cool head. I've already seen talks of mass migrations to GitLab, for example:
We're seeing 10x the normal daily amount of repositories #movingtogitlab https://t.co/7AWH7BmMvM We're scaling our fleet to try to stay up. Follow the progress on https://t.co/hN0ce379SC and @movingtogitlab
— GitLab (@gitlab) June 3, 2018
With that out of the way, let's look at this key part of the announcement I think is important for people to make sure they read:
GitHub will retain its developer-first ethos and will operate independently to provide an open platform for all developers in all industries. Developers will continue to be able to use the programming languages, tools and operating systems of their choice for their projects — and will still be able to deploy their code to any operating system, any cloud and any device.
Emphasis mine.
So, business as usual for now. Sure, the Microsoft of old used the term "Embrace, extend, and extinguish", so it does pay to remain cautious, but I wouldn't go completely nuts over this.
I mean, look at Mojang. Microsoft acquired them back in 2014 and has anything actually changed—no. The Java edition of Mojang is still full steam ahead and works fine on Linux as always. I heard only recently they took on more staff, one of which said they would be specifically taking a look at getting their new launcher officially supported on Linux (I can't back that up right now, because I'm a moron and didn't copy it down at the time).
GitHub is still very useful and likely will remain so, but I am quite a fan of GitLab personally, which you can even run yourself (always the better choice to do—if you can). Just remember, don't keep all your eggs in one basket. It's going to be very interesting to see what the open source movement does as a result of this.
What are your thoughts?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I don't trust any company but less so Microsoft.
I recently read that Vulkan games aren't allowed on the windows store (which they seem to be pushing devs and users towards). So, I'm not trusting Microsoft to do what's best for general PC users. They'll end up doing whatever is best for their own business (which makes perfect sense), and I doubt that will benefit github in the long run.
Last edited by nox on 4 June 2018 at 2:06 pm UTC
Also, what will happen to open source projects aiming Windows 10 without being in the windows store?
I will start preparing my migration to gitlab, just in case Microsoft starts pulling the plug.
Last edited by Binogure on 4 June 2018 at 2:16 pm UTC
* gitlab
* gogs
* gitolite
In order of decreasing resource usage. (maybe more?)
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 June 2018 at 2:27 pm UTC
Quoting: GuestCanceled. What is needed is code on an actual standardized open and thus never controlled platform, like syncing Github with Freenet or some other decentralized and open system like that.Like git-ssb?
ObsidianBlk Jun 4, 2018
That said... why would a company like MS want GitHub? I feel it might have something to do with the number of high profile public and private repos utilizing GitHub. Microsoft would now be able to more directly integrate their developer tools with GitHub, which, I feel, would be their way of making these developers more dependent on the Microsoft toolsets in the long term.
I'm probably overly paranoid in the short term. Long term, though...
Quoting: noxI recently read that Vulkan games aren't allowed on the windows store
Yep, all that talk about "new MS has changed for the better" breaks on hard reality of actual lock-in like above.
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 June 2018 at 4:28 pm UTC
At least I don't have anything important on the GitHub.
Last edited by Zlopez on 4 June 2018 at 2:34 pm UTC
wvstolzing Jun 4, 2018
By the way, check out his original comments on github -- the technical details go over my head, of course, but his quarrels with other people are entertaining as ever: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/pull/17#issuecomment-5654674
Edit: I mean, look at this:
QuoteBtw, Joseph, you're a quality example of why I detest the github
interface. For some reason, github has attracted people who have zero
taste, don't care about commit logs, and can't be bothered.
The fact that I have higher standards then makes people like you make
snarky comments, thinking that you are cool.
You're a moron.
Last edited by wvstolzing on 4 June 2018 at 2:41 pm UTC
QuoteI mean, look at Mojang. Microsoft acquired them back in 2014 and has anything actually changed—no.
Isn't there a new edition called Bedrock that's Windows only ?
I mean as long as the Java one stays up , your comment is 100% true , but I have a niggling doubt in the back of my head I can't shake.
Quoting: ArdjeAnyway: for the selfhosters:I ran gitea for a while and there a other lightweight solutions. Sadly none of them are as nice as gitlab. I wish I could afford to rent a VPS with however many gigs of ram it devours.
* gitlab
* gogs
* gitolite
In order of decreasing resource usage. (maybe more?)
QuoteI mean, look at Mojang. Microsoft acquired them back in 2014 and has anything actually changed—no.Because Notch had his head screwed on properly. I have no doubt he included conditions of continued managerial independence in the sale.
Look, on the other hand, at Hotmail. Or Nokia. Or Lionhead. Or Rare. Or Blue Ribbon Softworks. (“Who?” ... Exactly.) And I'm sure I could name more if I actually gave it some thought. This isn't bigotry, still less “hate”. It's not even scepticism of Microsoft's alleged new love for open source. The fact of the matter is that Microsoft tends to screw up its acqusitions, leaving the world at large with less than the sum of their parts.
But we'll see. Maybe Mojang does show that it has turned over a new leaf (although I note that the Java edition is “the Java Edition” now, and not just, y'know... Minecraft, while the Pocket and Win10 editions have been merged into the ominously definitive-sounding “Bedrock Edition”). I'll believe it when I see it though.
Quoting: ArdjeAnyway: for the selfhosters:
[...]
(maybe more?)
There's also RhodeCode and its fork Kallithea (managed by the Software Freedom Conservancy, when RhodeCode started to proprietarize certain things). They're purely for self-hosters though, as they don't offer a public instance like GitHub or GitLab do.
As for moving away from GitHub... I'm going to wait and see. The problem I'm seeing is not necessarily with GitHub the service itself, but what it means for FLOSS. That our infrastructure is further monopolized, and into the hands of big for-profit companies. And that Microsoft gains data on developers they can exploit.
somebody1121 Jun 4, 2018
aluminumgriffin Jun 4, 2018
QuoteI mean, look at Mojang. Microsoft acquired them back in 2014 and has anything actually changed—no. The Java edition of Mojang is still full steam ahead and works fine on Linux as always.And look at hotmail which they bought in 1997 and still is nowhere near as nice to use as it was back then - but it still works, as long as you're willing to load of few truckloads of scripts as well.
Or skype which they bought in 2011 and started with neglecting the linux-users, and then forced a severe UI downgrade to something plottery and bloated that insists on doing twice daily attempts at loading the keychain of the system. But hey it still runs.
There is a big difference between "runs" and "not forcing you to jump through annoying hoops in the progress".
Heck, if they history is anything to go by their first thing will probably be to autoconvert all
;)to graphical smileys...(ahh, the irony. Liam, could you please add a way to disable the annoyasmiley when writing comments? Needed to put it in a code-block to prevent it)
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