8 ms·

Why are people jumping ship to lower quality services ? And I'm talking about unrecognizable brand names, because at least migrating to Gitlab or Bitbucket may

Why are people jumping ship to lower quality services ? And I'm talking about unrecognizable brand names, because at least migrating to Gitlab or Bitbucket may be understandable in a way, but still an exageration in my opinion.

craftyguy 8y ago
Because now github is owned by a company that was formerly very hostile to open source software, and this company is magically not.
- natmaster 8y ago
  Steve Ballmer is no longer CEO. Companies are run by people - they are not people.
  - craftyguy 8y ago
    And what makes you think 1) company culture is no longer a thing and 2) that microsoft won't swing back towards being openly hostile or worse, 'secretly hostile' towards open source software when someone else is at the healm? I hope time will prove me wrong, but this acquisition is literally the 'embrace' phase of E3. Next comes the 'extend'.
    - naspinski 8y ago
      Microsoft has shown themselves to be very pro-open-source in the last 5+ years. Just look at things like VS Code. Microsoft is just the Nickelback of software, its cool to hate on them for no real reason (any more).
    - kingosticks 8y ago
      Why would they acquire github just to turn on it and run it into the ground? You can do that if your users are locked-in or maybe you have a competing service but neither are the case here; there are numerous alternatives and it's pretty easy to switch, as we are already seeing. If they have anything but good intentions this would be just a giant waste of time/money.
      - setquk 8y ago
        I’m personally worried that they might do it unintentionally. They seem to be very good at mismanaging and fucking up all their mainstream products.
      - petre 8y ago
        They did it with Skype. They don't have good but rather business minded intentions or how to make money from a product. This can change the product for the worse or at least for another audience (business users).
      - peterhi 8y ago
        Lets rephrase that shall we "Why would they acquire Nokia just to turn on it and run it into the ground?" It doesn't need malice but Microsoft have a talent for this kind of thing
        kingosticks 8y ago
        The mobile hardware division of Nokia had been heading this way for a long time - I have no idea why they went through with that. Is it fair to say all Microsoft's attempts at hardware (except XBOX) have failed?
        peterhi 8y ago
        The other example would be the Kin phone. A feature complete working phone that Microsoft decided needed to be rewritten from scratch to use the Windows Mobile / Phone stack It took 18 months and nearly $1B to rewrite only to find the market had moved on. Canned and written off I can imagine a situation where Microsoft thinks that GitHub would benefit from being re-implemented using Microsoft tech. Rewriting in APS.net, using Microsoft Login, integration with Office 365. The whole enchilada :) It would take years, cost billions and, at best, deliver exactly the same experience as GitHub today Worse case would be that GitHub stagnates during the rewrite as the alternatives spend their time and money developing new features
  - pmontra 8y ago
    People can decide who to work for. If they go to a company they probably like how it is when they join it, at least a little bit. I was contacted by a recruiting firm for an interview in Microsoft, probably in the 90s or maybe in the early 2000s. I answered no thanks.
    - grenran 8y ago
      Of course they can, but this decision is based mostly on money. Most of the time, people would just pick the company that would offer them more.
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    Do you believe that on Mr Ballmer's last day he put the company culture into a box along with some desk plants and framed photos and walked out of the building with it?
  - ionised 8y ago
    Company culture doesn't transform within a few years.
jug 8y ago
I'm not sure how useful this comment is in that terse form... I've heard many voicing opinions that now is a good opportunity to jump to the superior Gitlab for reasons like self hosting if not for future proofing. Edit: OK, this was in response to your unedited comment
- manigandham 8y ago
  Why is now a good opportunity compared to any other time?
ninjamayo 8y ago
From people I spoke to everyone seems concerned with what might happen. It is possible nothing bad happens at all but people cannot trust MS after what happened to a lot of the companies they acquired in the past.
pmontra 8y ago
I was alive when Microsoft was evil and I don't want my stuff to stay in a Microsoft service. I moved my pulic repositories to GitLab today. It's slower and it doesn't looks as nice but it's ok. I self host my private repositories, no need of a third party service for that. By the way, Bitbucket looks a little better than GitLab but its usability is abysmal. I always have troubles finding the things I want in there.
- outside1234 8y ago
  GitLab runs on Microsoft Azure. :)
  - pmontra 8y ago
    I don't mind, as I don't mind that (another famous example) StackOverflow runs on Windows. They use what's best for them. I don't use MicroSoft directly but with all the stuff that they sold it's impossible to stay strictly clear from them. Examples: Windows powered ATMs and supermarket cash counters.
  - aerique 8y ago
    GitLab was migrating to the Google Cloud Platform: https://about.gitlab.com/2018/04/05/gke-gitlab-integration/ https://about.gitlab.com/2018/04/05/gke-gitlab-integration/ I do not know whether this migration has finished. More links: - http://fortune.com/2016/11/14/gitlab-cloud-storage/ http://fortune.com/2016/11/14/gitlab-cloud-storage/ - https://venturebeat.com/2018/04/06/why-and-how-gitlab-abandoned-microsoft-azure-for-google-cloud/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/04/06/why-and-how-gitlab-abando...
- manigandham 8y ago
  Companies aren't evil, they are just a group of people, and so it stands to reason when the leaders of that group have changed then "the company" has changed too. Also what exactly is so bad about MS owning Github? The amount of conspiracy theory on HN is incredible.
  - josteink 8y ago
ivan_gammel 8y ago
I wouldn't say that they are low quality, but what really puzzles me is the timing of the switch, linked to a market event, which has no policy or technical consequences. I had no problems working with MS products since DOS 5.0/Win 3.1 and never had any technical or privacy issues while using them as the tools that allow me to live normal life and do my job efficiently. GH is convenient and perfectly matches my needs (I'm hosting there few personal open-source projects and private repositories), so what's the point in moving anywhere?
trhway 8y ago
>Why are people jumping ship because at best (or actually worst?) MS will slowly boil you like that frog.

craftyguy 8y ago

Because now github is owned by a company that was formerly very hostile to open source software, and this company is magically not.

natmaster 8y ago
Steve Ballmer is no longer CEO. Companies are run by people - they are not people.
- craftyguy 8y ago
  And what makes you think 1) company culture is no longer a thing and 2) that microsoft won't swing back towards being openly hostile or worse, 'secretly hostile' towards open source software when someone else is at the healm? I hope time will prove me wrong, but this acquisition is literally the 'embrace' phase of E3. Next comes the 'extend'.
  - naspinski 8y ago
    Microsoft has shown themselves to be very pro-open-source in the last 5+ years. Just look at things like VS Code. Microsoft is just the Nickelback of software, its cool to hate on them for no real reason (any more).
  - kingosticks 8y ago
    Why would they acquire github just to turn on it and run it into the ground? You can do that if your users are locked-in or maybe you have a competing service but neither are the case here; there are numerous alternatives and it's pretty easy to switch, as we are already seeing. If they have anything but good intentions this would be just a giant waste of time/money.
    - setquk 8y ago
      I’m personally worried that they might do it unintentionally. They seem to be very good at mismanaging and fucking up all their mainstream products.
    - petre 8y ago
      They did it with Skype. They don't have good but rather business minded intentions or how to make money from a product. This can change the product for the worse or at least for another audience (business users).
    - peterhi 8y ago
      Lets rephrase that shall we "Why would they acquire Nokia just to turn on it and run it into the ground?" It doesn't need malice but Microsoft have a talent for this kind of thing
      - kingosticks 8y ago
        The mobile hardware division of Nokia had been heading this way for a long time - I have no idea why they went through with that. Is it fair to say all Microsoft's attempts at hardware (except XBOX) have failed?
        peterhi 8y ago
        The other example would be the Kin phone. A feature complete working phone that Microsoft decided needed to be rewritten from scratch to use the Windows Mobile / Phone stack It took 18 months and nearly $1B to rewrite only to find the market had moved on. Canned and written off I can imagine a situation where Microsoft thinks that GitHub would benefit from being re-implemented using Microsoft tech. Rewriting in APS.net, using Microsoft Login, integration with Office 365. The whole enchilada :) It would take years, cost billions and, at best, deliver exactly the same experience as GitHub today Worse case would be that GitHub stagnates during the rewrite as the alternatives spend their time and money developing new features
- pmontra 8y ago
  People can decide who to work for. If they go to a company they probably like how it is when they join it, at least a little bit. I was contacted by a recruiting firm for an interview in Microsoft, probably in the 90s or maybe in the early 2000s. I answered no thanks.
  - grenran 8y ago
    Of course they can, but this decision is based mostly on money. Most of the time, people would just pick the company that would offer them more.
- bogomipz 8y ago
  Do you believe that on Mr Ballmer's last day he put the company culture into a box along with some desk plants and framed photos and walked out of the building with it?
- ionised 8y ago
  Company culture doesn't transform within a few years.

jug 8y ago

I'm not sure how useful this comment is in that terse form... I've heard many voicing opinions that now is a good opportunity to jump to the superior Gitlab for reasons like self hosting if not for future proofing. Edit: OK, this was in response to your unedited comment

manigandham 8y ago
Why is now a good opportunity compared to any other time?

ninjamayo 8y ago

From people I spoke to everyone seems concerned with what might happen. It is possible nothing bad happens at all but people cannot trust MS after what happened to a lot of the companies they acquired in the past.

pmontra 8y ago

I was alive when Microsoft was evil and I don't want my stuff to stay in a Microsoft service. I moved my pulic repositories to GitLab today. It's slower and it doesn't looks as nice but it's ok. I self host my private repositories, no need of a third party service for that. By the way, Bitbucket looks a little better than GitLab but its usability is abysmal. I always have troubles finding the things I want in there.

outside1234 8y ago
GitLab runs on Microsoft Azure. :)
- pmontra 8y ago
  I don't mind, as I don't mind that (another famous example) StackOverflow runs on Windows. They use what's best for them. I don't use MicroSoft directly but with all the stuff that they sold it's impossible to stay strictly clear from them. Examples: Windows powered ATMs and supermarket cash counters.
- aerique 8y ago
  GitLab was migrating to the Google Cloud Platform: https://about.gitlab.com/2018/04/05/gke-gitlab-integration/ https://about.gitlab.com/2018/04/05/gke-gitlab-integration/ I do not know whether this migration has finished. More links: - http://fortune.com/2016/11/14/gitlab-cloud-storage/ http://fortune.com/2016/11/14/gitlab-cloud-storage/ - https://venturebeat.com/2018/04/06/why-and-how-gitlab-abandoned-microsoft-azure-for-google-cloud/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/04/06/why-and-how-gitlab-abando...
manigandham 8y ago
Companies aren't evil, they are just a group of people, and so it stands to reason when the leaders of that group have changed then "the company" has changed too. Also what exactly is so bad about MS owning Github? The amount of conspiracy theory on HN is incredible.
- josteink 8y ago

ivan_gammel 8y ago

I wouldn't say that they are low quality, but what really puzzles me is the timing of the switch, linked to a market event, which has no policy or technical consequences. I had no problems working with MS products since DOS 5.0/Win 3.1 and never had any technical or privacy issues while using them as the tools that allow me to live normal life and do my job efficiently. GH is convenient and perfectly matches my needs (I'm hosting there few personal open-source projects and private repositories), so what's the point in moving anywhere?

trhway 8y ago

>Why are people jumping ship because at best (or actually worst?) MS will slowly boil you like that frog.