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.
lucifertdark Jun 4, 2018
Just deleted my account, too. Not that mine really mattered in the first place, but eh. Spring cleaning. ;)
ElectricPrism Jun 4, 2018
I dont know if the XBONE was outputting at 30 FPS @ 4k or the horizontal refresh rate on the 80" TV was fucky -- but the people I was playing with got dizzy so we quit Local Multiplayer.
After Halo on Xbox 360 and the terrible organization and painful teeth-pulling process just to play fucking halo again it's no surprise to me why XBONE is in the toilet behind PS4.
Actually, the whole experience makes me want to keep my 4 controllers and put my console up for sale.
Believe it or not I actually have less problems on my m.2 Dan-A4 console sized SteamOS machine.
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 4 June 2018 at 4:10 pm UTC
GustyGhost Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: EhvisI actually find the $7.5B figure worrying. Companies don't spend that much money to not get something out of it. I have a hard time believing that this can be earned by selling pro-accounts, so there must be some other vision for how this could be made profitable. I don't think I want to be around to find out what it is.This. They must have some reason to spend $7.5 billion. "Pocket change" it may be, but certainly on one of those days when you've been gradually accumulating the stuff for weeks and suddenly realize you've got a couple dozen (pounds, euros, dollars) in coin weighing your pocket down. $7.5 billion is more than the Canadian government just paid for an oil pipeline (and they got rooked, at that--ex-Enron dudes totally fleeced them).
So either they have a plan to make a profit from Github, a big enough one to make $7.5 billion worth it. And it seems to me there's a good chance whatever way they plan to make that money isn't going to be something we'll love. Or they have a strategic purpose in owning it that they think is worth shelling out $7.5 billion without getting a profit back. I would expect to like that even less.
Or both.
So, well . . . keep backups, folks.
PublicNuisance Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: GustyGhostWhat for those of us who use GitHub to contribute to largish projects? I am migrating away but I don't exactly want to trash my github account. Maybe keep it around for now as a courtesy.
Encourage them to move. Some would, but I expect that some won't.
Quoting: somebody1121Now i understand why mesa starts moving to gitlab...
I don't think it's related. Mesa was self hosted and will be self hosted, they are just going to use Gitlab instead of Gitweb + Bugzilla and etc.
I'm not sure whether I'll start migrating my projects just yet, but new ones are likely going on GitLab.
QuoteI mean, look at Mojang.Yes, let's looks at Mojang... Yes, for now it seems all is good with the java version still getting updates and whatnot. However, let's also look at the actual definition of Embrace, Extend, Extinguish, and compare that to the mobile/windows 10/console version of the game...
To quote wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish
QuoteThe strategy's three phases are:To me, it is quite apparent that they are deep into the extend phase with minecraft... Won't be too much longer until they determine that that java version "no longer offers any benefit to consumers" or some such nonsense.
Embrace: Development of software substantially compatible with a competing product, or implementing a public standard.
Extend: Addition and promotion of features not supported by the competing product or part of the standard, creating interoperability problems for customers who try to use the 'simple' standard.
Extinguish: When extensions become a de facto standard because of their dominant market share, they marginalize competitors that do not or cannot support the new extensions.
somebody1121 Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: somebody1121Now i understand why mesa starts moving to gitlab...
I don't think it's related. Mesa was self hosted and will be self hosted, they are just going to use Gitlab instead of Gitweb + Bugzilla and etc.
Maybe you are right but the timing of their migration make me suspect, and also i won't be surprise if more big projects start moving.
Rhythagoras Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: MakiI deleted my account there when the news broke.
Same
somebody1121 Jun 4, 2018
Doc Angelo Jun 4, 2018
Quoting: ElvanexTo me, it is quite apparent that they are deep into the extend phase with minecraft... Won't be too much longer until they determine that that java version "no longer offers any benefit to consumers" or some such nonsense.Yep. As I said, I expect Notch was very careful with his conditions of sale, which is why it didn't go pear-shaped within six months. But that's also what worries me about the rebranding of the main version and this new “Bedrock” edition: it looks suspiciously like some kind of workaround.
Quoting: MakiI deleted my account there when the news broke.
I did the same. Delighted to discover that "scaine" is available on GitLab too, so I've registered there for now. I wonder if there's a way to report on Github account numbers? I'd love to see if this news had any material effect on account numbers, or if it's just a case of the "Tim Sweeneys" - complaining loudly, but not actually doing anything about it.
Avehicle7887 Jun 4, 2018
I'm glad to see so many people here saying that they left or are going to leave Github, it's reassuring to see that the Linux and Foss community are aware that Github is no more. Everything Microsoft touches turns to shit. Profitable shit, but shit all the same.
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me