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They do seem to be trying to reassure people that they're not gonna mess this up: > And Microsoft is all-in on open source. We have been on a journey with open

They do seem to be trying to reassure people that they're not gonna mess this up: > And Microsoft is all-in on open source. We have been on a journey with open source, and today we are active in the open source ecosystem, we contribute to open source projects, and some of our most vibrant developer tools and frameworks are open source. When it comes to our commitment to open source, judge us by the actions we have taken in the recent past, our actions today, and in the future. > [...] > Going forward, GitHub will remain an open platform, which any developer can plug into and extend. 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 on any cloud and any device. > [...] > Most importantly, we recognize the responsibility we take on with this agreement. We are committed to being stewards of the GitHub community, which will retain its developer-first ethos, operate independently and remain an open platform.

sametmax 8y ago
Yes, they got way better at PR. They could get away with bad PR before when they were leader, but now that they have serious competition from everywhere, they are trying to win people away again.
- gsich 8y ago
  Still pretty much undefeated when it comes to desktop usage.
skierscott 8y ago
>> Going forward, GitHub will remain an open platform, which any developer can plug into and extend. Does an “open platform” mean “open source” or “a plugin system”? I think making it open source would alleviate a lot of dev concerns.
- heartbreak 8y ago
  If they meant "open source" I have to imagine they would have said so. "Remain" is the key word there. Github is already an open platform with an API and plugin system. Github is not already open source, so it can't remain so.
kthejoker2 8y ago
Of course they are, have you read all the HN posts on the subject? People literally called them "fundamentally reprehensible." It's not too much to say that they more or less only have upside here - if they can more or less keep their hands off GitHub's community and mindshare while expanding its capabilities and services, it'll be one more notch in their belt of "See? We're not Gates or Ballmer."
Iv 8y ago
The phrase "Embrace, extend, extinguish" comes from Microsoft. [1] There is one actor I don't trust with that, it is them. I'll move my repos next weekend. Maybe that's the call I needed to self host... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis...
- airstrike 8y ago
  That phrase is from over 20 years ago...
  - pritambaral 8y ago
    Phrases don't lose their relevance due to age. If they do, they do it because the situation has changed, and similar situations haven't come up. For example, the phrase "doublespeak" is much older and also especially relevant today.
    - chuckkir 8y ago
      The phrase is still valid, but it is unclear that it applies to the current company. Companies do not have minds and are not people. They do have inertia, but if you change enough of the people then it's fundamentally a different company. MS is certainly different than it was 20 or 10 years ago.
      - Iv 8y ago
        MS was fined by EU for monopoly practices in 2008 and 2013. It is currently in a case against Spain when it made it harder to dual boot with Windows 8's UEFI systems. The year is 2018 and Windows still ships with a single navigator, only supports NTFS and does not know that dual-boot is even a possibility.
mtgx 8y ago
It's not like they didn't do the same with Nokia, Skype, or aQuantive.

sametmax 8y ago

Yes, they got way better at PR. They could get away with bad PR before when they were leader, but now that they have serious competition from everywhere, they are trying to win people away again.

gsich 8y ago
Still pretty much undefeated when it comes to desktop usage.

skierscott 8y ago

>> Going forward, GitHub will remain an open platform, which any developer can plug into and extend. Does an “open platform” mean “open source” or “a plugin system”? I think making it open source would alleviate a lot of dev concerns.

heartbreak 8y ago
If they meant "open source" I have to imagine they would have said so. "Remain" is the key word there. Github is already an open platform with an API and plugin system. Github is not already open source, so it can't remain so.

kthejoker2 8y ago

Of course they are, have you read all the HN posts on the subject? People literally called them "fundamentally reprehensible." It's not too much to say that they more or less only have upside here - if they can more or less keep their hands off GitHub's community and mindshare while expanding its capabilities and services, it'll be one more notch in their belt of "See? We're not Gates or Ballmer."

Iv 8y ago

The phrase "Embrace, extend, extinguish" comes from Microsoft. [1] There is one actor I don't trust with that, it is them. I'll move my repos next weekend. Maybe that's the call I needed to self host... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguis...

airstrike 8y ago
That phrase is from over 20 years ago...
- pritambaral 8y ago
  Phrases don't lose their relevance due to age. If they do, they do it because the situation has changed, and similar situations haven't come up. For example, the phrase "doublespeak" is much older and also especially relevant today.
  - chuckkir 8y ago
    The phrase is still valid, but it is unclear that it applies to the current company. Companies do not have minds and are not people. They do have inertia, but if you change enough of the people then it's fundamentally a different company. MS is certainly different than it was 20 or 10 years ago.
    - Iv 8y ago
      MS was fined by EU for monopoly practices in 2008 and 2013. It is currently in a case against Spain when it made it harder to dual boot with Windows 8's UEFI systems. The year is 2018 and Windows still ships with a single navigator, only supports NTFS and does not know that dual-boot is even a possibility.

mtgx 8y ago

It's not like they didn't do the same with Nokia, Skype, or aQuantive.