Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub is now official

In months ago we made known here on the blog Microsoft's intentions for a potential GitHub purchaseDays after he announced that this news was official and it was.

Although all this takes a process since not everything is as easy as it seems since Microsoft had to get certain approvals and that's how it happened.

After obtaining approval from the European Union a week ago, Microsoft has confirmed the acquisition of GitHub , the sharing and sharing service based on the Git code.

There are 31 million developers who currently use this platform to host, share and / or find projects with other people.

The official announcement of the acquisition is now official and the Redmond software giant is already the new owner.

Microsoft has assured that after the acquisition will be closed, it would continue to manage GitHub as a platform and independent businesses. Therefore, Microsoft makes the acquisition of GitHub official.

Developer support

Acquisition is another sign of how Microsoft is committed to trying to attract developers and present itself as a neutral partner. to help with projects.

This is because even though its own proprietary software business is profitable, Microsoft also has several other companies, for example Azure, which competes with AWS and Google Cloud.

They all depend a lot on impartiality in relation to one platform or another. And with the acquisition of GitHub, Microsoft hopes to give another sign in this direction.

GitHub will retain its first developer spirit and operate independently to provide an open platform for all developers in all industries.

Developers will continue to be able to use the programming languages, tools, and operating systems of their choice for their projects, and they will still be able to deploy their code on any operating system, any cloud, and any device.

Maintained equipment

As previously announced, Nat Friedman, who had been the CEO of Xamarin (another developer-focused software company that was acquired by Microsoft in 2016), will be CEO of the company.

GitHub founder and former CEO Chris Wanstrath to become a Microsoft technician and they will work on the software, strategies and initiatives. (Wanstrath returned as CEO after co-founder Tom Preston-Werner resigned after a harassment investigation in 2014.)

Friedman, in a short note, said he will take office on Monday.

He also repeated what Microsoft said at the time of the agreement: GitHub will be managed as a platform and independent companies.

This is a key point, as there will not be much room for developers about the company.

Many wondered if GitHub is going to be partial or more focused on Microsoft-based projects or products.

We always support developers in choosing any language, license, tool, platform or cloud, "he writes, noting that there will be more tools to come. "We will continue to build tasteful, fast and polished tools that developers love," he added.

New forum

He also highlighted the development and investment in Paper Cuts. This is a project launched in August.

He hopes to address some of the complaints developers may have with GitHub.

The idea is to help handle larger product updates. So GitHub can find workarounds. Additionally, a feedback forum should be provided to help discover what needs to be updated.

Prevent migration

Microsoft is looking for ideas or opportunities to avoid developer migration, therefore the need to remain neutral is not just to keep its 31 million developers.

There has been a 3 million increase since the deal was announced. The main goal is to avoid mass migration to GitHub's competitors, including gitlab and bitbucket.

At the moment Microsoft has a lot to work on, since even though its intentions are neutral, many people decided to abandon Git Hub.