GitHub, the code repository where a majority of the top cryptocurrencies’ code bases are located, was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Monday in a $7.5 billion deal. This move took the open-source community by storm, including those who work on the best-known cryptocurrency’s core software.
To say that Wladimir van der Laan, the maintainer of Bitcoin Core and one of its most avid developers, was upset about this is a bit of an understatement, according to his tweets.
https://twitter.com/orionwl/status/1003546841928040448
In another tweet replying to a question, van der Laan said that he believes that Bitcoin Core should pack its bags and move away from GitHub.
https://twitter.com/orionwl/status/1003549916462047232
As a maintainer of the project, he can move the code anywhere else without any issue and then shut down the GitHub repository. Of course, this also means waiting until everyone involved in the project is informed of the move and manages to reconfigure their development environments to commit to another repository.
It also means waiting until everyone who downloads Bitcoin Core knows where to go to pick up releases without experiencing any unpleasant surprises.
This isn’t just Bitcoin Core leaving GitHub, though. GitLab, a direct competitor to GitHub, reported a sudden increase of user flow at ten times the ordinary daily number.
https://twitter.com/gitlab/status/1003409836170547200
The company took advantage of this and put out a campaign called “#movingtogitlab,” offering a 75% discount on its Gold and Ultimate subscriptions.
The panic among open-source developers may be a bit premature, however, as Microsoft doesn’t appear to have any intention to discontinue free memberships for them.
The only reason people pay for GitHub at this current moment is for private repositories, which are used in closed-source (usually commercial) projects. Nothing stops current public repository holders from continuing as if nothing happened.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
