FLOSS != GitHub: A Case Study of Linux/BSD Perceptions from Microsoft's Acquisition of GitHub

TL;DR

This study investigates how the Linux and BSD open source communities perceive Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub, revealing that some communities are cautious and do not see GitHub as fully representative of FLOSS ideals.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into FLOSS developers' perceptions of GitHub post-acquisition, highlighting community concerns and the diversity of platform preferences.

Findings

Some FLOSS communities moved away from GitHub after the acquisition.

GitHub is influential but not fully representative of all FLOSS communities.

Community discussions on free and open software on GitHub increased.

Abstract

In 2018, the software industry giants Microsoft made a move into the Open Source world by completing the acquisition of mega Open Source platform, GitHub. This acquisition was not without controversy, as it is well-known that the free software communities includes not only the ability to use software freely, but also the libre nature in Open Source Software. In this study, our aim is to explore these perceptions in FLOSS developers. We conducted a survey that covered traditional FLOSS source Linux, and BSD communities and received 246 developer responses. The results of the survey confirm that the free community did trigger some communities to move away from GitHub and raised discussions into free and open software on the GitHub platform. The study reminds us that although GitHub is influential and trendy, it does not representative all FLOSS communities.