Microsoft reportedly buying code hosting repository GitHub

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Microsoft is reportedly buying GitHub which is a leading resource for global software development. "GitHub hosts code for 27 million software developers working on 80 million repositories of code,” according to Bloomberg. The deal is apparently expected to be a billion dollar blockbuster deal which is expected to get a formal announcement tomorrow June 4.

GitHub is a critical service used to help develop everything from iPhone apps to websites. Microsoft owning this resource gives it a powerfull foothold in the future of software development. While GitHub is a huge code repository used by Apple, Amazon, Google and many others. Microsoft is also a major contributor to GitHub and a natural fit as a steward of the service.

Microsoft has opened its doors to Linux and open source software. Its future is in Azure IoT, which are is the software as well as microprocessors that run billions of future connected smart home, IoT and connected devices to which Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has said, "The whole world is now a computer." Azure IoT, is not expected to run on Windows but on a version of Linux, which fits in nicely with what GitHub is all about. This is clearly a move by new Microsoft under Nadella's guidance. The company has embraced openess and collaboration and even fosters a love of Linux and Open Source development.

GitHub has also become a social network and community for developers, something that Microsoft could benefit from in its portfolio, specially since the company has given the green light to various beta-testing and insider programs to test and debug new versions of its software. The reach that existing users of GitHub will offer Microsoft is extensive.

An infusion of capital from Microsoft as well as the focus on security and accountability can make GitHub even better even if initial skepticism from developers as to Microsoft's motives for purchasing the service.

Source: Bloomberg