- One developer has said that Microsoft wants to acquire its AppGet package manager in one form or another, but then stopped communicating with it and eventually released a very similar tool called WinGet.
- He told Business Insider that he just wanted Microsoft to give him an explanation and credit for his work.
- Microsoft said it was investigating the situation. “We regret having heard of this candidate’s experience and are examining the circumstances internally,” said a spokesperson.
- Do you work at Microsoft? Contact this reporter via the Signal encrypted messaging app (+ 1-425-344-8242) or by email ([email protected]).
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
A developer who created a software tool that caught Microsoft’s attention says the company guided him for months on a job and then built a very similar service.
Keivan Beigi, the developer of the AppGet package manager, said that Microsoft contacted him in July 2019, and then expressed his interest in hiring and acquiring his tool before cutting communication for months and publishing his own package manager in May.
Now Beigi has said he wants Microsoft to give him an explanation – and credit for his work.
“I don’t even know if I’m able to ask for anything,” Beigi told Business Insider. “Power dynamics are turned off.”
A package manager automates the process of installing, updating, or removing software, and Beigi created AppGet while working full-time as an IT manager for a cryptocurrency trading company. Microsoft unveiled its own package manager of the same name – “WinGet” or Windows Package Manager – at its developer conference last week for Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.
Beigi believes that WinGet is “very inspired” by its own package manager, which it originally said Microsoft wanted to acquire by hiring it. In an average article published Sunday and spotted this week by various media in the tech industry, Beigi wrote that Microsoft had approached him last summer, expressing interest in AppGet as “a great addition to the Windows ecosystem”.
Beigi met who he described as a “high-level manager at Microsoft” and eventually the conversations moved on to discuss plans for a combination of acquiring AppGet and hiring Beigi. Business Insider has reviewed the email exchanges between Beigi and Microsoft, which describe the details of his potential job, including discussions about his role and compensation.
Beigi said he flew to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington on December 5, but had not heard of Microsoft for six months – except for an exchange with the human resources on a problem with a travel reimbursement – until very recently, when the same level – the level manager told him that Microsoft would publish WinGet. In this email, the manager wrote: “I am sorry that the PM position did not work.” (PM in this case represents the position of engineer “package manager”.)
After Beigi published his article on Medium, he said that Microsoft’s hiring manager had contacted him and said the company did not intend to surprise Beigi with the release of WinGet, but did not not explain why the communication fell apart. However, Beigi said he still wanted an explanation of how the situation had deteriorated as she did.
Beigi said there was nothing to suggest Microsoft “copied” AppGet, which was anyway open-source and written in a programming language different from WinGet. But, he says, Microsoft has taken the basics of how the project works and would appreciate credit or recognition.
Microsoft said it was investigating the situation. “We regret having heard of this candidate’s experience,” said a spokesperson, “and we are examining the circumstances internally.”
Beigi has now decided to stop developing AppGet, as it appears to be a “waste of effort” now that Microsoft has its own package manager in the Windows ecosystem. AppGet will close permanently on August 1.
- One developer has said that Microsoft wants to acquire its AppGet package manager in one form or another, but then stopped communicating with it and eventually released a very similar tool called WinGet.
- He told Business Insider that he just wanted Microsoft to give him an explanation and credit for his work.
- Microsoft said it was investigating the situation. “We regret having heard of this candidate’s experience and are examining the circumstances internally,” said a spokesperson.
- Do you work at Microsoft? Contact this reporter via the Signal encrypted messaging app (+ 1-425-344-8242) or by email ([email protected]).
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
A developer who created a software tool that caught Microsoft’s attention says the company guided him for months on a job and then built a very similar service.
Keivan Beigi, the developer of the AppGet package manager, said that Microsoft contacted him in July 2019, and then expressed his interest in hiring and acquiring his tool before cutting communication for months and publishing his own package manager in May.
Now Beigi has said he wants Microsoft to give him an explanation – and credit for his work.
“I don’t even know if I’m able to ask for anything,” Beigi told Business Insider. “Power dynamics are turned off.”
A package manager automates the process of installing, updating, or removing software, and Beigi created AppGet while working full-time as an IT manager for a cryptocurrency trading company. Microsoft unveiled its own package manager of the same name – “WinGet” or Windows Package Manager – at its developer conference last week for Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system.
Beigi believes that WinGet is “very inspired” by its own package manager, which it originally said Microsoft wanted to acquire by hiring it. In an average article published Sunday and spotted this week by various media in the tech industry, Beigi wrote that Microsoft had approached him last summer, expressing interest in AppGet as “a great addition to the Windows ecosystem”.
Beigi met who he described as a “high-level manager at Microsoft” and eventually the conversations moved on to discuss plans for a combination of acquiring AppGet and hiring Beigi. Business Insider has reviewed the email exchanges between Beigi and Microsoft, which describe the details of his potential job, including discussions about his role and compensation.
Beigi said he flew to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington on December 5, but had not heard of Microsoft for six months – except for an exchange with the human resources on a problem with a travel reimbursement – until very recently, when the same level – the level manager told him that Microsoft would publish WinGet. In this email, the manager wrote: “I am sorry that the PM position did not work.” (PM in this case represents the position of engineer “package manager”.)
After Beigi published his article on Medium, he said that Microsoft’s hiring manager had contacted him and said the company did not intend to surprise Beigi with the release of WinGet, but did not not explain why the communication fell apart. However, Beigi said he still wanted an explanation of how the situation had deteriorated as she did.
Beigi said there was nothing to suggest Microsoft “copied” AppGet, which was anyway open-source and written in a programming language different from WinGet. But, he says, Microsoft has taken the basics of how the project works and would appreciate credit or recognition.
Microsoft said it was investigating the situation. “We regret having heard of this candidate’s experience,” said a spokesperson, “and we are examining the circumstances internally.”
Beigi has now decided to stop developing AppGet, as it appears to be a “waste of effort” now that Microsoft has its own package manager in the Windows ecosystem. AppGet will close permanently on August 1.