Is Microsoft buying Facebook a good thing for PHP?
Microsoft is buying a piece of Facebook. What do we all think this means for PHP since Facebook is one of the “web 2.0″ leaders built on PHP? The way I see it, here are the options:
- Facebook continues on its merry path, taking only funding from Microsoft
- Facebook continues on its merry path, taking funding from Microsoft in addition to some development “resources.” Resources here could be people, equipment, and technology. The free people, equipment, and technology probably won’t fit very well in a LAMP environment. Pressure to move infrastructure to MS-friendly environment mounts.
- Microsoft rewrites the whole thing in C#
- Microsoft learns how simple and scalable PHP is and freaks out, unleashing a FUD campaign the likes of which we’ve never even dreamed of.
- Microsoft learns from the open source environment, partially embraces it, and creates PHP.net, a half functioning version of PHP for .net framework.
- Microsoft learns from the open source environment, fully embraces it, and abandons Windows by creating their own GUI for the next version of Linux.
In reality, I can really only see #1 or #2 happening. Your thoughts?
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15 Responses to “Is Microsoft buying Facebook a good thing for PHP?”
By Matthew Weier O'Phinney on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
Evidently you’ve missed the various announcements over the past year of Zend and Microsoft partnering to improve PHP performance with Windows, and particuarly Microsoft’s commitment to a FastCGI implementation for IIS — which mainly serves to make PHP a viable and fast option on IIS.
My guess is that (1) and (2) are likely, but that if (2) comes about, it will most likely be MS donating hardware and IIS licenses so Facebook can run PHP on Windows.
By Rich Zygler on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
I’ve seen those announcements. I’m afraid that work on IIS doesn’t excite me however. Do you know of any large PHP sites running on Windows with either IIS or Apache? I’d love to see some performance numbers/benchmarks.
By Regin on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
On short sight (few years) I don’t see microsoft getting more involved in the management and development. They are in it for the ads and to avoid Google and Yahoo from partnering with Facebook…
By Alex Netkachov on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
I think that nothing important really will happen. This is not related to technology at all.
By Sara Golemon on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
#5 has been progressing for some time now. MS has put their support being phalanger to create a more .NET friendly version of a PHP Syntax compiler. They’ve also made IIS7 so that it can load many Apache DSOs without modification.
((Not that I’d ever run a webserver on windows))
By Manny on Oct 25, 2007 | Reply
I don’t think MS would be entitled to see or do squat to Facebook’s infrastructure. MS is only buying/getting a 1.6% stake in the company. That’s like a seat in the bleachers
The code for PHP is freely available, so why waste their money for code? It’s not like they need Facebook’s stuff. Unlike when they screwed Sybase and used Sybase’s code to create MS SQL Server.
Plus platform changes aren’t cheap or easy.
By Wez Furlong on Oct 26, 2007 | Reply
Having worked with folks from MS on improving PHP on Windows since the latter part of 2003, I find some of your points to be somewhat closed-minded or ill-informed, and spreading those notions is itself FUD.
I suggest you go and take a look at codeplex.com, where you’ll find a large number of OpenSource projects, including Phalanger, an implementation of PHP running on the .NET platform.
You should also note that not all of the projects there are Windows only, such as their AJAX toolkit.
You might (and by you, I mean the people reading these comments, because you’ve already indicated that you’re not open to the idea of running on Windows) also be interested to note that the PHP.net windows distributions and snapshots are running on hardware donated by Microsoft and AMD. Wondering how long it will be before we move to Phalanger? It hasn’t come up.
And if you think I’m a Microsoft fan-boy, you’re wrong. I pick my tools to fit the job at hand, and I’m painfully aware of flaws in all the major operating systems and tools.
I consider myself to be privileged to be able to talk to folks inside Microsoft (and Sun, for that matter) and help them figure out how they can improve, and it’s great to see some of those suggestions manifesting in the real world, even if it does take time.
So, please, try to lose that anti-microsoft sentiment, or at least do it in a more objective or technical manner, because you’re presenting the image of someone that doesn’t really have any idea how things are in the real world, and that isn’t doing yourself any favors.
–Wez.
By Rich Zygler on Oct 27, 2007 | Reply
Wez - perhaps you missed the last lines of my post where I stated that I think probably nothing from a technology standpoint will happen with this investment. I don’t believe it is FUD to raise a bit of concern here however.
Facebook is a company that is not only built on open source tools but routinely touts that fact (or at least the blogoshpere does). It’s one of the PHP success stories that people like me in the trenches can point to when defending against the constant barrage of whether PHP is “enterprise ready.” You may be too far removed to hear that kind of questioning but it happens all the time where I am. So having MS inside the gates of Facebook weakens my argument there, whether anything happens from a technology standpoint or not. The real world that I see is that of a constant struggle for control in regards to web apps between MS developers, PHP developers, and Java developers.
Others here have mentioned Phalanger. I don’t see the point of it. Running dokuwiki on IIS does not excite me. Maybe I need to look at it more.
I won’t think you’re an MS fan-boy but don’t think me an MS-hater either. I program in C#. I read the port 25 blog. I’ve written several times about .NET interop with open source apps. Right tool for the job - I’m all for this.
I run Apache and PHP on Windows for development, everyone does. But I attribute most of the gains there to the great Apache and PHP teams, not Microsoft. Is that belief wrong? It seems to me that only recently has Microsoft shown a committment to PHP things. I feel the MS strategy is more of a defensive one than a warm embrace.
By Renny on Oct 27, 2007 | Reply
Php.net is already here for the year or so. By the way, it supports lagasy apps either.
By till on Oct 27, 2007 | Reply
Hey Rich,
despite the myth that everyone develops on Windows and hosts on Linux/Unix, I know a lot of people who develop on MacOSX and on Linux/Unix as well.
I remember that conference and saw the video where Wez was on stage surrounded by all those MS guys and someone pointed out that was the case. Well, I am sorry for them.
To get back to your question - I think MS is in it for the ads and bid that outrageous amount of money to win a single fight against Google/Yahoo. Because if you follow the startup scene, MS is not very present in Web 2.0.
By Chris Hartjes on Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
Hey Rich,
Why would Microsoft even be given the opportunity to rewrite Facebook? They did not buy controlling interest in the site, only 1.6%.
I’m with Wez on this one: you’re spreading FUD. I’m no Microsoft booster but I can’t see Facebook making such an abrupt about-face with the technology they use.
By Steve on Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
M$ would re-write to C#/ASP.NET in a heartbeat. Not like the code there is too complex (The major parts are the DB/Cache access. From what’s been leaked on the net, the code is crap IMO).
Nothing will happen though. And I do 95% of my development on OS X (or *Nix), not windows. Even when working on a windows machine, I use SSH/Vi to do my php development
By Jonathan Bond-Caron on Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
You’re misinterpreting the Microsoft / Facebook deal. It’s purely an advertising deal and has nothing to do with technology. The valuation of Facebook is a joke at most. Take away the advertising and microsoft would never have invested in facebook. The 1.6% stake in the company is a bonus, nothing more.
By Rich Zygler on Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
JBC - if the valuation of Facebook is a joke (which I also believe), then this isn’t a 1.6% stake in the company but a much larger investment.