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sf.me > Blog > Don't Use GitHub
Posted on: 27 May 2023
Reading time: 3 minCategory: Software
If you are a developer, programmer or a coder who works with open-source software, you must have clicked this post in shock. First off, I would like to state that I am not telling everyone to stop making open-source software. What I am trying to say is that GitHub is one of the worst Git platforms to host your projects. We will cover why in this post.
Simply put, GitHub uses non-free software and non-free JavaScript on their website. It is shockingly ironic that the biggest open-source platform for anyone to use is itself a proprietary piece of software. It is also centralised, for-profit and politically active, which are all completely against free, libre and open-source software. These factors make it similar to SourceForge, which was abandoned by most of its users because of this very reason.
If everyone stops using GitHub and moves to better alternatives like Codeberg, GitLab or even a self-hosted Git instance, then GitHub will fall. Many people may be seething at me suggesting GitLab, but the truth is that GitLab is still open-source and uses free JavaScript instead of non-free JavaScript on their website. It is certainly not the best option, but it is miles ahead of GitHub.
Codeberg is entirely free software and it is a great option for most people. It works in a similar way to GitHub so it is trivial for individuals to migrate. SourceHut is also amazing. It is just as good as GitHub and much better for your rights. Self-hosting a Forgejo or Gitea instance is one of the best options as it offers complete independence. Git is the underlying technology which anyone can use. Therefore, everyone should be independent in using it.
This is the reason I have a website. Everyone should have a website as it gives you independence on the web.
Microsoft's strategy against open-source has always been to embrace, extend and extinguish. They have tried to do it before with Linux when it was being popularized among developers. Now, they are using Copilot to do so, which is an AI tool that can autocomplete code for you. The main issue with it is that they trained it all on open-source code without giving any credit to the original developers. GitHub's Copilot is now being used to help code for-profit and close-source programs.
Essentially, this results in open-source programs being used to grow close-source programs.
Microsoft and GitHub's multiple CEOs have kept on speaking negatively about copyleft. This includes GitHub's founder and former CEO. Their OSCON keynote was meant for attacking copyleft and the GPL, trying to discourage the use of free software. Instead, they suggest the MIT license using which many megacorporations exploit people's code without any credit.
There are many people who suggest using alternatives to products offered by big corporations and they are mostly right. Big corporations are able to give you free products because they profit off of your data. They are not trying to be kind.
For example, look at Google. They offer a search engine, documents storage, free email, cloud storage, a video site with billions of videos, a meeting platform and much more. They are not doing this to help people. They are doing this to harvest your data and sell it to the highest bidder.
Microsoft? Windows, Xbox and GitHub are not tools offered out of their sympathy towards you. All of it is for their own profit, whether it be collecting your data in Windows or preventing distribution of truly free software on GitHub.
GitHub is perhaps the only Git platform that has no option to self-host. You do not know what is running on their servers and cannot know what is happening with your code.
Please don't use GitHub. Just use alternatives or self-host it. GitHub does have a lot of projects but if you use it, it brings them closer towards extinguishing open-source.