Hell hath no fury like an open-source developer scorned.
After Bloomberg reported today that Microsoft had agreed to acquire GitHub, developers across the world appear have taken to their keyboards to express their shock and dismay. GitHub had been a bit of a refuge for open-source developers to create and share their code, and there have been concerns that Microsoft, which makes most of its money selling software, won’t share its core values. Twitter has been abuzz with memes and tweets from developers, anxious over how GitHub will change after it becomes a part of the Microsoft family.
Someone brought out Clipply, Microsoft’s Office beloved assistant, and tried to fit him within the GitHub universe.
Can't wait to see the new #Microsoft version of GitHub#github pic.twitter.com/Zll8hf8Q9c
— Aurélien Hervé (@aurel_herve) June 3, 2018
Other people thought that Microsoft would use GitHub to up-sell its other products, including its own cloud solution, Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Azure has been gaining on Amazon AWS over the years, and now commands a 20% share of the market, compared to AWS’s 62%.
On this @microsoft/@github thing… shared w/ me by a fellow RHTer. Hilarious. pic.twitter.com/fEuGAorRXK
— Chuck Svoboda (@Chuckernetes) June 4, 2018
More horrifyingly, someone photoshopped an ad for Microsoft Edge, Microsoft’s web browser, into a GitHub screen.
In a not too distant future #GitHub #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/d798T0H21w
— Gerrie Swart (@johnblackspear) June 3, 2018
And others wondered how GitHub’s UI might change after the acquisition.
This is your future now! #microsoft #github pic.twitter.com/bej0F6di67
— Dewhurst Security (@dewhurstsec) June 4, 2018
For some, a simple gif was enough.
When you are a GitHub user and suddenly become a Microsoft customer… #github pic.twitter.com/kHfZk8MMZG
— Michael Panzer (@panzer_michael) June 3, 2018
And others tried making light of the situation.
git pull $2,000,000,0000. https://t.co/paMUj6BFEC
— Jerry Gamblin (@JGamblin) June 3, 2018
Others went full meta — in 2016, Microsoft had acquired LinkedIn for $26 billion.
I would like to add you to my professional network on GitHub.
— I Am Recruitr (@iamrecruitr) June 4, 2018
Some people joked that developers would start moving to competitor GitLab.
Mircrosoft buys @github pic.twitter.com/GVX5HSfZ47
— Marco Amadori (@mammadori) June 4, 2018
But then someone found out that people were actually leaving — a Twitter user pulled up a graph showing how imported projects had spiked on GitHub after the news had broken.
#Microsoft acquires #GitHub, # of imported projects in #GitLab spikes.https://t.co/0F2bELKGkv pic.twitter.com/1rsMRioi8v
— Stas Slutsker (@stas_slu) June 4, 2018
But others thought that the outrage was going to be short lived.
Today is the day where loads of devs angrily and publicly quit Github… and then just keep using it anyway.
— Kevin Beaumont ? (@GossiTheDog) June 4, 2018
All these people saying they'll move to Gitlab because of MS buying GitHub, remind me a lot of all the people that said they'll leave the UK when Brexit happened.
…oh and they didn't.
— Pascal Precht ?? (@PascalPrecht) June 4, 2018
And ultimately, developers might just be to used to GitHub to consider switching.
Twitter today: OMG! Those fucker at Microsoft are buying @github. They’re going to wreck everything Let’s all start #movingtogitlab while we still can
2 weeks later: fuck it! It’s to hard, let’s just stay on GitHub
This is the developer version of #DeleteFacebook
— Дэвид Халл aka دَڤِ هَلل aka Dave Hall (@skwashd) June 4, 2018
But whether GitHub sees a developer exodus or not, one thing is clear — the tweets might just have been worth it.
"I see you're trying to create a GitHub repository…" pic.twitter.com/wiCicRPPaH
— Chris Oldwood (@chrisoldwood) June 4, 2018