Monday June 4, 2018; 9:46 AM EDT
- The Microsoft-GitHub deal is announced. I wrote about it twice over the weekend. Now we have a lot to think about.#
GitHub was that rare thing, a consensus platform. Everyone used it. If you used some other git server, you'd have to explain why. Now that consensus will very likely break up. Where will people go? Will a new consensus emerge? Seems unlikely, you pretty much need a vacuum for that to happen, though there have been exceptions.#- Microsoft may have better intentions than they used to, but I'm from Missouri. And oftentimes acquistions are ruined because of incompetence, or key people leaving. They don't have to be evil for this to go bad.#
- It'll be interesting to see if any of the mainstream press talks to and understands developers. This acquisition is totally about developers.#
- Who will Microsoft acquire next? Stack Exchange perhaps? Joel originally came from Microsoft. They've been developing new products that would make sense in Microsoft's cloud lineup.#
- Microsoft's competitors will probably stop using GitHub and may launch competitors, esp if GitHub integrates with Microsoft's cloud services. #
- Microsoft could ease a lot of fears by offering to redirect any project to another git server. If anyone from either company is listening, consider that a suggestion. Otherwise we have a problem with all the github.com URLs out there on the web.#
- They chose an interesting day to announce, the first day of Apple's WWDC. This of course is not a coincidence. (See note below. Microsoft says the timing is a coincidence.)#
- What's our exit strategy? The founders and investors have theirs. #
- I ignored their acquisition of LinkedIn, I have an account there, but I hardly use it. But GitHub is different. I use it as a backup of all my development work. I use it as a platform, and I've written tools that only work with GitHub. It's hard to imagine that I would have done that with Microsoft as the owner.#
- Update: Frank X Shaw, top Microsoft PR guy, writes: "Hi Dave, I saw your post just a bit ago. One thing -- it actually is not intentional to announce concurrent w/ WWDC. Mergers/Acquisitions get announced when they are signed, not when we want them to. Thoughtful points on the rest of the post, but wanted to call that one out."#