As announced on Monday, June 5, the software company Microsoft buys the open source platform GitHub for $ 7.5 billion. Since many blockchain protocols, including the Bitcoin blockchain, manage their source code on GitHub, this purchase also affects the crypto-economy. Will things change in the future?

The GitHub open source platform is a very popular site among programmers. Here they can work together on projects and exchange ideas, the code base is available there for everyone to see. This also keeps the feedback loop upright as outsiders can view and comment on the codes. The platform is therefore particularly interesting for decentralized peer-to-peer blockchain projects.

Now also the software giant Microsoft has become aware of the successful platform. In order to incorporate GitHub, the Seattle-based group opens wide the pockets: 7.5 billion US dollars, he pays for the end of the year for the acquisition. Microsoft is now open source, after a long time on specially developed software applications. After all, developers from Microsoft also use the platform to exchange information and optimize codes.

Does this affect the crypto-economy?

This question can not be answered quite clearly. For one thing, GitHub plays an important role, as much of the blockchain codes are on GitHub. The focus of the platform on open source projects makes it very attractive, especially for decentralized distributed ledger technologies, to make the codes visible to all and open up their use to outsiders. In this respect, all changes in the GitHub network can also be felt by the blockchain projects.

On the other hand, a takeover does not automatically mean that Microsoft plans to change major features of GitHub. On the contrary: Microsoft is acquiring the platform precisely because the company is currently so successful with its business model. So you want to try not only to preserve the product, but above all to benefit from the experience GitHubs as an open source platform. This is particularly evident as Microsoft had finished its own open source experiment CodePlex last year .

Crypto community dissatisfied

Although GitHub users are unlikely to change that much in the near future, the crypto community has already become critical. Many users complain that they have not been asked, even though the amount of code provided is the essential part of the site. For example, petitions have been submitted that demand the platform’s independence. Concentration of power and centralization are feared, in the coder scene one mistrusts Microsoft. However, one should also keep in mind that GitHub itself is not a decentrally organized platform.

Thus, the idea is in the future, GitHub in the future less to use. Alex van de Sande of the Ethereum Foundation announces this via Twitter to speak. There he notes that the centralized platform does not equate to a fully decentralized Git Repository . The reason why GitHub has become the number one platform in the field is, according to van de Sande, the convenience of the centralized website. That Microsoft now takes over this, he describes as a lesson.

Bitcoin developer Wladimir J. van der Laan is also opposed to staying on GitHub. When asked whether developers and programmers should look for another platform, he answers on Twitter with a terse “yes”. He predicts a slow but sure end to the platform itself.

Bitcoin has since released almost all the codes and protocols on GitHub. A withdrawal of developers would therefore be a heavy blow to the platform.

Marko Vidrih @cryptomarks

Image via shutterstock, twitter