Certainly seems like it, but I was spectacularly wrong when I said that about Google's purchase of YouTube and about Facebook's purchase of Instagram, so I've learned to stop saying that.
I was in the same boat until I talked to someone working directly with youtube and that conversation cleared a lot of my questions. Allow me to do the same for you. :)
Not really. Nowadays a user base complete with data usage of the demographic you want to target is super precious.
Think about it: Microsoft will know exactly who, when and from where people accessed your repositories. They will have detailed metrics on your commit/push patterns, the devices you use, etc...
A social network of developers is probably something very precious. And whether MS's motives toward open source are hostile or benevolent, it is a precious thing to have.
Even if they just want to kill it, that's probably the amount you need to spend on it.
It feels like enterprise sales are the product here, not users' data. It seems like a great way to alienate a community that is normally pretty conscientious about privacy though.
> OTOH, anyone else think Microsoft has massively overpaid for Github? Feels like Satya's Nokia moment to me.
I have no idea about whether the valuation is sane, but combining a powerful, intuitive tool (GH Enterprise) w/MS's sales channel is likely to drive a lot of new revenue. Lots of companies stick with IBM's revision control products because companies like Github might not be taken seriously by decision makers.
> OTOH, anyone else think Microsoft has massively overpaid for Github?
They've only massively overpaid if they rapidly confirm the worst fears that have been expressed and thus tank the value of what they've got; leveraged well—which will take a light touch—Github is of enormous value to Microsoft.
Higher valuation means MS have to give out less shares now for this acquisition. Although, it’s a complicated topic.
Trying to address your comment - MS makes money with stock market movement but not right away. Higher stock value means higher valuation. If MS decides to raise money by selling stocks then obviously they will get the higher dollar value at that time. Although, it will be painful for stock buyback program.
If you think - my understanding is wrong then please educate me
> OTOH, anyone else think Microsoft has massively overpaid for Github? Feels like Satya's Nokia moment to me.
I don't think so. Of course it is an high risk investment for microsoft. But github is in a place like no other site nowadays. Just 1.5 million company customers make it quite valuable. And the fact that it is a standard in the open source world also means that more and more companies will use it in the future.
I don't think that being pedantic about the definition of words when the intended meaning is understood is something we should be doing on HN, but since we are:
> hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage : envious
>
> His success made his old friends jealous.
> They were jealous of his success
I’ve never won that argument with a compiler and I’ve tried thousands of times. Programmers — I’m one, I make no assumptions about you — are pedantic by nature. Are you judging me because I was born this way?
Certainly seems like it, but I was spectacularly wrong when I said that about Google's purchase of YouTube and about Facebook's purchase of Instagram, so I've learned to stop saying that.