← Back to context

Comment by marricks

8 years ago

Can anything exist anymore without

A) Getting acquired by a multinational

B) Becoming one

Sure, MS visual code is open but as a few players get more and more power we all become subject to their whims and not them to ours.

MS is pushing their ads within their own OS more and more, will GitHub get the same treatment, or will it’s data be useful to MS for those ads?

What sort of integrations can we expect to see with other MS products that encourage a more closed ecosystem?

This may all seem alarmist but with so many companies having so much power this sort of behavior get through unchecked.

The only recourse people suggest is “well then don’t use it” but what options do employees have when higher ups mandate technologies? What about most users who just go with the wind and just let these snowballing large companies skate by? It all makes me very sad...

8 comments

marricks

Reply
telltruth  8 years ago

The problem is that virtually all startup wants an exit. They have employees sitting on stock options for years while forgoing their market rate. They have investors wanting 10X return. This would work out for insanely profitable businesses like Google but for the rest they have built huge expectations on business models tha t are unworkable so buyout by a sucker is the only viable outcome for them. Coincidentally Microsoft has recently decided to become that sucker with LinkedIn and now GitHub.

archagon  8 years ago

Probably a direct consequence of VC funding.

  • marricks  8 years ago

    Definitely, investors don't give you money just for kicks, they want a payday. It shapes the community... people who take that money get a head start, crowd out competition. Everyone needs to grow huge, get bought, or die.

    What could change this? People refusing money? Some encouragement to stay mid sized? Wonder if that will ever happen...

    • oculusthrift  8 years ago

      doesn’t matter what you do. there will always be a competitor that takes the money and kills you. If not, the big companies themselves will fund their own projects with 100x your budget