This week, you may have seen the news story regarding Microsoft’s purchase of GitHub for a staggering $7.5 billion. If you’re not a developer or know someone who is, you might not be familiar with GitHub at all. To give you a quick explanation, Git is a free open-source version control system that allows developers to create something, i.e. an app, for example, then make constant revisions to the code and release new versions up to and after the first official release of the app.
Version control systems keep these revisions straight, storing the modifications in a central repository — making it simple for developers to easily collaborate, download a new version of the software, make changes, and upload the newest revision. Git is far and away the most preferred version control system for most developers since it has these multiple advantages over other systems available — letting you store file changes more efficiently while ensuring better file integrity.
Where ‘Git’ is a command-line tool, the centre around which these things involving Git revolve is the ‘Hub’ — GitHub.com — a platform where developers store their projects and network with other developers and like-minded people.
More than 28 million developers already collaborate on GitHub, and it’s home to more than 85 million code repositories used by people in nearly every country. From the largest corporate companies to the smallest startups use GitHub and the growing number of users are not slowing down as the developer community continues to grow with computing being more and more embedded in the world and with every part of our daily life being transformed by digital technology.
The move by Microsoft to acquire GitHub hugely contrasts their former view of the open-source model. Historically people would say the open-source model didn’t mix well with businesses but times have changed and Microsoft is now the most active organisation on GitHub in the world.
Microsoft’s former CEO Steve Ballmer was famously against open-source software but with fresh minds in the company and new CEO Satya Nadella, they have recognised the service has become indispensable to programmers. As well, their recent successful acquisition of LinkedIn shows just how serious they are about evolving and growing the company.
Microsoft’s view is that now and in the future, developers will be at the centre of solving the world’s most pressing challenges. Microsoft’s goal is to ensure the GitHub platform continues to be the number one destination where developers can create, collaborate, share code and build on each other’s work. Workflows of developers will drive and influence business processes and functions across organisations — from marketing, sales and service, to IT and HR. In short, the decisions developers make will increasingly have an effect on every aspect of life and business and ensuring there is a strong and connected developer community, just like any community, will ultimately benefit everyone.
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