Affan's Blog

“Microsoft confirms it will acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion”

There has been an uproar in FOSS community, Microsoft bought GitHub. Right now I don’t know which sides am I on. So in this article I will layout the reasons why this news is good or bad. This is my thinking progress, not a news.

It’s Bad

First of all, I will explain the opposing sides.

Microsoft is known for it’s “Embrace, extend, and extinguish” motto where Microsoft way to monopolizing a certain product. We can see it on the past when Microsoft try to kill Lotus 1-2-3. At first, Microsoft created a software which copy the main selling point of its competitor. In this case, it embrace Lotus first, adding features that makes Lotus, Lotus. Then, Microsoft adds extra features such as Macros and add a bunch of extra stuff such as database, word processing, etc. This process called extend. Now Microsoft got many users, so they use that advantages to discount, marketing and using whatever necessary to make Office the necessary and industry standard software. Finally, this process will kill Lotus, and it’s called extinguish.

Stuff became shit after acquired by Microsoft. Just look at Skype or Nokia. We never heard it again. Some people said that they quit Skype several months after Microsoft stepped in. A lot of people complain about the new Skype. Personally I’ve never used it, so I can’t talk shit about it further. But let’s acknowledge that Skype become bad after Microsoft bought it. Several people complained that the new UI is awful, the ‘+’ icon is add conversation, not add contact meanwhile you add contact by typing in search box.

Internet Explorer. Microsoft trying to kill the webs by making Internet Explorer the de facto standard. Pushing people to make the proprietary ActiveX the standard, not the open HTML/JavaScript. This makes huge number of business apps that locked to IE despite being a web apps. And Microsoft’s IE is a huge pile of shit. It makes internet industry plummet, and you had to make 2 versions of the website, one for modern browser and the other one for IE.

Windows 10 spy and update. I really hate this garbage to the death. When you compared it to Linux Distro, it is clear that W10 is a step backwards. And the telemetry stuff is like a salt on open wound. After I install Linux, the first thing that I do is installing software and tools that I need. But after install Windows, the first thing that I do is to install anti-spy software. Windows really gone downhill because of the spying and the update-stuff. W10 also force its user to update Windows. Update is normal for security reason. Linux also has updates, but W10 updates is sooo infuriating. W10 could update by itself when you go grab a drink, or when you do presentation in front of the class. Then all of your progress is gone.

Windows 10 ads. When you open your menu. There is a huge screen covering 2/3 of your screen consists of fricking ads. Why they shove Xbox, Netflix, and Candy Crush Saga is beyond me. This makes user experience worse. Why people should pay for a damned adware? This is outrageous. And after W10 updates, they sometimes add Candy Crush Saga to your computer, without your consent! And they also add Edge your default browser and add them to your desktop shortcut. Not to mention the telemetry settings that they turned on back even though you turned them off.

Fresh install of Windows 10 includes:

• Candy Crush Saga
• Candy Crush Soda Saga
• Disney Magic Kingdoms
• Hidden City: Hidden Object Adventure
• March of Empires: War of Lords

They also insert ads for such great software as Blitz Brigade: Rival Tactics into your start menu even if you disable the “Show suggestions occasionally in Start” option.

It’s Good

Despite Microsoft utter pile of shit. I want to believe that Microsoft wants to repair it. I really do, despite my rants earlier. So in this section I will explain why it is not a bad thing.

Microsoft still respect the original version of Minecraft, updates it regularly, and didn’t burn it down. Even though several product that Microsoft acquire turned into a pile of shit, Minecraft is still surprisingly good.

Xamarin. This one makes me trust Microsoft a little. After Microsoft acquire Xamarin, they made it completely free so .NET devs could easily export their program to iOS and Android. Not only Xamarin, Microsoft has been doing good for developer with VSCode, TypeScript, and .Net Core.

Change in leadership. Change in leadership in Microsoft history is very relevant. The CEO is the one that shape how Microsoft behave, so if Windows doing good or doing bad, it is the CEO’s responsibility. Microsoft has done good thing since Nadella. Nadella thought that making things open and accessible is the future, the company should be about the software. Windows think that loving the developers means better software, we can see it from recent project VSCode. Nadella know that fighting open source was a bad idea so he focus on it instead.

Microsoft killed Nokia. We never heard Nokia again since Microsoft purchased it. But in their defense, the fallout of the purchase of Nokia mobile division is a large reason Ballmer isn’t the CEO anymore. The majority of the board and senior leadership were initially against the purchase, but Ballmer allegedly pulled a “if I don’t get my way, I’m leaving”. Note that Gates and Nadella were among those opposed to it. I’m not saying that Microsoft is good because they killed Nokia, but this shows that the root of Microsoft evil is Ballmer. Once Ballmer replaced with Nadella, Microsoft is great.

Microsoft is all about open developer tools now. I think that this is relevant to the GitHub acquisition. Microsoft might be acquiring GitHub for better integration with VS and their cloud computing services. If Microsoft really love developers now and they makes open software better, then I see no bad thing that GitHub is in Microsoft hands now. Even Microsoft is using GitHub to host Windows development and software project, like managing projects, get community feedback, bug reports, code contributions, etc. Perhaps this is why Microsoft bought GitHub.

Where Do I Stand

At first I was “Hurr durr Microsoft is bad and I bet 100$ that GitHub will become bad too!”. But after thinking a while, I think it is not fair if I only push my opinion and don’t hear the other. I will stay using GitHub. But I still don’t trust Microsoft as long as Windows 10 is alive. There is no way for me to trust completely a company that has been monopolistic and abusive because they’ve been doing good for several years. I will still use GitHub, but if Microsoft do some of their monopolistic shit, I will push the eject button and move instantly.