Re: [OT] Why I don't like github [was: Please help to test latest Debian 11 release candidate on real] hardware
On Sun, 25 Jul 2021 19:48:03 -0400
Gene Heskett <gheskett@shentel.net> wrote:
> On Sunday 25 July 2021 15:36:26 tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 07:43:10PM +0100, Brian wrote:
> > > On Sun 25 Jul 2021 at 09:34:42 +0200, tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:
> > > > On Sat, Jul 24, 2021 at 04:27:23PM -0400, Jim Popovitch wrote:
> > > > > Why isn't this on Salsa instead of a Microsoft site?
> > > >
> > > > ...you're right. I won't touch github unless I'm forced to :-(
> > >
> > > I went to
> > >
> > > https://github.com/alexpevzner/sane-airscan
> > >
> > > and found it full of very useful information. You will explain why
> > > Microsoft's involvement in the site should make me wary of advising
> > > users to go there?
> >
> > It is subtle, and you might disagree.
> >
> > I always wondered why github was worth 7.5 billion to Microsoft [1].
> > Surely it seemed a bit steep for "just" generating good will in the
> > "open source" (as they choose to call it) community?
> >
> > Of course, github succeeded in one thing: they managed to centralise
> > git, which is inherently decentral. Many people these days see github
> > as a synonym to git and can't bother to use git without github's
> > shiny web interface.
> >
> > This was, even before the acquisition, enough reason for me to keep
> > as much distance as possible between github and myself.
> >
> > But still, 7.5B?
> >
> > Now, with github copilot [2], things start making sense: github users
> > get support from an AI (GPT-3) for which Microsoft has an exclusive
> > license (only the service is available for mere mortals).
> >
> > They now have a strategic position on how code is written "out there",
> > at least, they hope to have it.
> >
> > Personally, I very much dislike the situation. It very much reminds
> > me of "The Evitable Conflict" [3] from Isaac Asimov, with the little
> > wart that Microsoft isn't bound by the Three Laws of Robotics, but
> > just by their shareholder value :-)
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Github#Acquisition_by_Microsoft
> > [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub_Copilot
> > [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evitable_Conflict
> >
> > - t
>
> +100 Tomas, as it gives them free access to "borrow" some of the best
> code out there. So the comparison to the underhanded compuserve and
Anyone can "borrow" open source code, regardless of where it's hosted,
pretty much by definition.
Celejar
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