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is it just me or GitHub is turning into some sort of LinkedIn (self.programming)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by sizeoftheuniverse to c/programming

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Initially, LinkedIn was just another site where you could find jobs. It was simple to use, simple to connect with others; it even had some friendly groups with meaningful discussions.

And then it gained monopoly as the "sole" professional network where you could actually land a job. If you are not on LinkedIn now, you are quite invisible in the job market. Recruiters are concentrated there, even if they have to pay extremely high prices for premium accounts. The site is horrible now: a social network in disguise, toxic and boring influencers, and a lot of noise and bloated interface to explore.

When Google decided to close their code.google.com, GitHub filled a void. It was a simple site powered by git (not by svn or CVS), and most of the major open-source projects migrated there. The interface was simple, and everything was perfect. And then something changed.

GitHub UI started to bloat, all kinds of "features" nobody asked for were implemented, and then the site became a SaaS. Now Microsoft hosts the bulk of open-source projects the world has to offer. GitHub has become a monopoly. If you don't keep your code there, chances are people won't notice your side projects. This bothers me.

Rant over. I hate internet monopolies.

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[–] StudioLE 30 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Has GitHub actually done anything negative? Your comments really just sound like fear mongering, I can't see any actual issues.

What is the bloat you're referring to? The UI is clean and simple. Navigating and searching code is intuitive. The issue tracker is basic but reliable. Releases are clear. GitHub Actions are complex but featureful and incredibly useful. GitHub Packages are basic but useful. GitHub Copilot is damn impressive.

[–] triarius 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

They scanned open source repos and made an LLM out of it. Now companies can profit from open source code without contributing back to the ecosystem. The only contribution they make is the money they pay to Microsoft for Copilot. So Microsoft is profiting from OSS code and stifling its community.

Does this outweigh the free hosting of the code? IDK

[–] philm 7 points 1 year ago

I agree with the other comment. It's Open source after all, they could've just crawled the web otherwise.

Private repos on the other hand is a different story.

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