Google Wanted to Buy GitHub but Microsoft Beat It to the Punch

The acquisition of the open source coding platform GitHub by Microsoft has been a done deal for a while now and presents profound opportunities for the tech giant. However, it turns out that the Windows OS manufacturer wasn’t the only company gunning for the coding site. An executive at Google recently hinted that the search engine firm also had plans to buy GitHub. Microsoft simply beat it to the punch.

The Google executive in question is the company’s head of Cloud, Diane Greene. Speaking recently to Bloomberg, she admitted that Google might have had plans to acquire GitHub for itself.

“I wouldn’t have minded buying them, but it’s OK,” she replied after being asked about the acquisition.

Prior to and following the deal between GitHub and Microsoft, there were rumors that the search engine giant had also bid for the startup. Apparently, the money wasn’t enough to catch the coding platform’s attention, but Google hasn’t even confirmed that it did actually try to buy it. Greene wouldn’t say anything else on the matter either, except to express some concern over potential changes in direction.

"I really hope Microsoft can keep them totally neutral,” Greene said.

Another reason why GitHub went with Microsoft is the supposed relationship that GitHub founder Chris Wanstrath had with Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, The Verge notes. Such ties might justify the concerns that a lot of other tech entities have with regards to this acquisition.

After all, many individuals and business projects rely on the open source nature of GitHub for their coding needs. If Microsoft ever decides to make any changes to the platform’s current operations, it could impact its significance substantially.

Right now, developers are playing the waiting game to see what Microsoft will do with the coding platform. For the Windows OS manufacturer’s part, it’s been trying to reassure developers and users that it won’t do anything to jeopardize GitHub’s standing within the community.