5 ms·

I've hated Microsoft for much of my life. I try not to make it a religious issue, but I'm worried about github. If they open sourced it I would no longer be wor

I've hated Microsoft for much of my life. I try not to make it a religious issue, but I'm worried about github. If they open sourced it I would no longer be worried. They won't, though. They won't open Windows or Office either.

keypress 8y ago
It's a shame code doesn't drop into the public domain after a decade... But windows must be a colossal mass of who knows what at this point. I'd be embarrassed to open that cupboard for all and sundry to inspect. And likely a double edged sword in terms of security.
- exikyut 8y ago
  I remember a quote by a philosopher that said corporations should be dissolved after 10 years. The idea - in any form - really does make one think, and kinda hard. The world would indeed be a very different place. I wonder what kind of innovation such a move would stifle? Hmm, maybe superscalar/moonshot-level competition would be defined by and buoyed by 10-year disclosure! That would be kinda fun...! Regarding Windows, those who poked around the Win2K and WinNT leaks regarded the code as reasonably well-written, so there's that. The Windows Research Kernel is somewhat more straightforwardly accessible; "wrk-1.2" will find innumerable copies rehosted on GitHub. Regarding security, yes, it would be a payday loan. The NSA tool leak had some pretty old things in it that still did a fair chunk of damage.
oblio 8y ago
Github is very unlikely to be a massive cash cow, unlike those other two. And even if they make it Open Source, who's going to compete with them? If Microsoft revs up the enterprise sales machine, there's only a handful of companies that can compete with them. And none of those will want to build a company on FOSS tech owned by a direct rival. This is not a case of Red Hat EL vs Oracle Linux. Microsoft has a mean enterprise sales machine and it's huge. All those Microsoft sales folks want to hear from a competitor is "oh, by the way, our enterprise SCM offering is based on a Microsoft solution".
snowwrestler 8y ago
Why are people worried about Github? I mean, I use it and I like it, but I also have local copies of my code. If I stop liking Github, I feel pretty confident I could set up another workflow with Gitlab or even self-hosted git if I had to. I mean--I used to use Skype all the time, but now I use something else. If MS breaks Github, there are options.
- sjs382 8y ago
  GitHub is more than just a place to upload code for a lot of people. They use it to manage issues, wikis, releases, orgs & commit permissions, etc. Some of that stuff is easier to migrate than others...
  - nfoz 8y ago
    I wouldn't know how to migrate that between any systems. Maybe what's missing -- more than open source code -- is open formats for that sort of data? Like we just need a button to export that from github more than I think I'd need Github's server code.
    - OJFord 8y ago
      GitLab has that button - of course, it can't import a community, but it can import issues et al. - and it's been busy today..! https://monitor.gitlab.net/dashboard/db/github-importer https://monitor.gitlab.net/dashboard/db/github-importer

keypress 8y ago

It's a shame code doesn't drop into the public domain after a decade... But windows must be a colossal mass of who knows what at this point. I'd be embarrassed to open that cupboard for all and sundry to inspect. And likely a double edged sword in terms of security.

exikyut 8y ago
I remember a quote by a philosopher that said corporations should be dissolved after 10 years. The idea - in any form - really does make one think, and kinda hard. The world would indeed be a very different place. I wonder what kind of innovation such a move would stifle? Hmm, maybe superscalar/moonshot-level competition would be defined by and buoyed by 10-year disclosure! That would be kinda fun...! Regarding Windows, those who poked around the Win2K and WinNT leaks regarded the code as reasonably well-written, so there's that. The Windows Research Kernel is somewhat more straightforwardly accessible; "wrk-1.2" will find innumerable copies rehosted on GitHub. Regarding security, yes, it would be a payday loan. The NSA tool leak had some pretty old things in it that still did a fair chunk of damage.

oblio 8y ago

Github is very unlikely to be a massive cash cow, unlike those other two. And even if they make it Open Source, who's going to compete with them? If Microsoft revs up the enterprise sales machine, there's only a handful of companies that can compete with them. And none of those will want to build a company on FOSS tech owned by a direct rival. This is not a case of Red Hat EL vs Oracle Linux. Microsoft has a mean enterprise sales machine and it's huge. All those Microsoft sales folks want to hear from a competitor is "oh, by the way, our enterprise SCM offering is based on a Microsoft solution".

snowwrestler 8y ago

Why are people worried about Github? I mean, I use it and I like it, but I also have local copies of my code. If I stop liking Github, I feel pretty confident I could set up another workflow with Gitlab or even self-hosted git if I had to. I mean--I used to use Skype all the time, but now I use something else. If MS breaks Github, there are options.

sjs382 8y ago
GitHub is more than just a place to upload code for a lot of people. They use it to manage issues, wikis, releases, orgs & commit permissions, etc. Some of that stuff is easier to migrate than others...
- nfoz 8y ago
  I wouldn't know how to migrate that between any systems. Maybe what's missing -- more than open source code -- is open formats for that sort of data? Like we just need a button to export that from github more than I think I'd need Github's server code.
  - OJFord 8y ago
    GitLab has that button - of course, it can't import a community, but it can import issues et al. - and it's been busy today..! https://monitor.gitlab.net/dashboard/db/github-importer https://monitor.gitlab.net/dashboard/db/github-importer