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GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

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Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#31

I think the author nailed it. This is Microsoft's chance to reach out to developers and prove that they've had a change of heart regarding open source. We've seen this over the years with previous code hosting platforms. If the platforms betrays it's users, developers are not scared to mass migrate to something else. The onus is now on Microsoft to keep developers happy or risk losing their $7.5B investment.

I wouldn't say that, as siblings echo. I genuinely think that, for instance, Microsoft is genuinely doing a better job of doing open source than Google right now (With Facebook at the top, MSFT #2, Goog #3 from FAANG).

That might be because I'm deeper into web development though, and both TypeScript, and VS Code are great contributions.

Maybe I'd feel different if I worked in ML, and used Tensorflow daily.

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#32

I am a developer, use git, but don't use too much GitHub. I am genuinely curious, are the users of GitHub really that tied in to the site? Is the cost of moving to another platform, really that difficult??

If you use pure git, no.

If you built your company around GitHub team management, yes.

If you integrate with 3rd party services that function via GitHub, yes.

If you depend on an open source community which is primarily connected through GitHub, yes.

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which developer wants to miss out on serving potentially millions of users? What kind of “killer” app do you envision for a watch? Being able to check messages, calls, Uber, flights, etc. right on my wrist are all killer applications for me, along with the fitness features of course. I suspect the upcoming walkie-talkie will be fun too (something that should’ve been there from the start.)

I think you make your own point. There is no killer app, so why would developers care about millions of people with a watch they can’t do anything novel by a third party?

It's popular enough that, if your competitors make a watch app, a large userbase would begin to prefer using the competitor app.

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#35

Since the announcement, I’ve been trying to figure out what the most evil uses of “telemetry” that could be incorporated into Github in order to invade user’s privacy are. I’ve had a few (small) ideas but I’m confident that Microsoft already has people much more evil^W^Wsmarter than me working on this very problem (if it wasn’t already figured out beforehand).

You're already uploading the big one. If you're going to trust Microsoft with your actual data, who cares about the metadata?

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#36
post #2

> The WWDC, sacred nerd summit of Appledom, is where they announce things like a new “night mode” for the operating system and try to convince programmers that Apple Watch matters. Bloomberg got an honest laugh out of me.

Apple Watch is apparently the best selling watch (not just best selling smartwatch) in the world [0], with millions of users, and many copycats. Why shouldn’t it matter? Of course, there’s only so much you can do and make on such a small screen, and it is an accessory rather than a “primary” device, but that is another issue altogether, if one. I think it may even function as a motion control input for the rumored VR…

Best selling watch is believable, but who the heck buys and wears a watch for anything besides fashion these days? It's a totally niche market IMO.

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#38

I am a developer, use git, but don't use too much GitHub. I am genuinely curious, are the users of GitHub really that tied in to the site? Is the cost of moving to another platform, really that difficult??

Not difficult, but no other platform offers the same.

Why would you move from Google to Bing?

Re: GitHub Is Microsoft’s $7.5B Undo Button

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple Watch is apparently the best selling watch (not just best selling smartwatch) in the world [0], with millions of users, and many copycats. Why shouldn’t it matter? Of course, there’s only so much you can do and make on such a small screen, and it is an accessory rather than a “primary” device, but that is another issue altogether, if one. I think it may even function as a motion control input for the rumored VR…

Best selling watch is believable, but who the heck buys and wears a watch for anything besides fashion these days? It's a totally niche market IMO.

My Apple Watch is surprisingly useful: I can figure out which conference room my next meeting is in with a single tap of the home screen, control music, etc. It honestly surprised me how much value I got out of it.
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