2 ms·
Except that selling data to third parties has never been Microsoft’s MO. It’s always been about getting fat checks from the worlds largest companies’ IT departm
by ggg9990 8y ago
Except that selling data to third parties has never been Microsoft’s MO. It’s always been about getting fat checks from the worlds largest companies’ IT departments.
- mjw1007 8y agoThe whole github purchase is premised on the idea that Microsoft have changed their ways in the last few years. So it isn't safe to assume they aren't changing to a more Facebook/Google-like data-selling business model.
- bobbytherobot 8y agoFair point. I'll counter that with if we are using history as an indication of future actions, then selling off personal data has not been Microsoft's course of evil action. Suppressing competitors, sure, selling personal data, no. Having dipped my toe briefly into the world of collecting and selling personal data, it is a rat-race way to try to make large sums of money. It is an absolute grind. I personally have a hard time seeing why Apple or Microsoft would decide to move away from making windfalls of money through direct purchases. Many startups fall into selling personal data because they can't crack the nut of getting people to pay them.
- bonesss 8y agoExactly :) My point was that EvilCorps using the metadata from GitHub was an unavoidable eventuality IMO [and honestly, it would probably be a Good Thing for developers, but whatevs...]. As it stands, that dataset is now going to be owned be a single EvilCorp. One who has a distinct mercantile incentive to exploit, instead of resell, that data. If the concern is corporate exploitation MS ownership is more likely to reduce the number of exploitative partners to 1. Ironically a net win, for those sensitive to metadata reuse.