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An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

github.com

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Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#21

Post by mpdehaan2 »

Posting this right after some good suggestions for the service was given feels like this is saying it is wrong to make suggestions for GitHub because they have done good things.

This to me, itself, is wrong.

The GitHub issue tracker does need to change. While it's great for OSS that projects can get a leg up SOONER, GitHub does introduce it's own problems by having some watered down tooling in some areas.

I'm STILL at odds with how it has shifted the equation from discuss to throw code at the problem, which generates extra code review and often, angry committers when their patches are not immediately merged or unwanted, or have to be reworked.

GitHub has done some GREAT things because it has built up critical mass, but because it has gotten critical mass and has become a defacto standard, does have some obligation to keep up with demand.

This seems passive aggressive to me.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#22

Post by akash0x53 »

mmcclure wrote: post #4

I assume this is a response to the "Dear Github" letter. I'm fairly certain that everyone involved in that letter (including myself), is very appreciative of Github and its impact on OSS. That letter didn't feel ungrateful or malicious at all to me, but I sure hope it didn't come off that way to others. What I do frequently see with Github, is that they've managed to work their way into almost being beyond reproach.…

ICYMI "Dear github" https://github.com/dear-github/dear-github

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#23

Post by jacquesm »

msellout wrote: post #16
gkya wrote: post #11

I find the current situation with Github very unhealthy, because, even though very unlikely, someone can literally pull off the plug of open-source. Not all, but a great part. If such thing happened, be it with government intervention or some crazy attack towards github, it would make us lose a lot time migrating to other solutions. It would be like a Great Barbaric Invasion of Open Source, where everyone migrated to…

The bug tracking data might be tough to replicate, but everything else is stored on each contributor's machine. I think recovery time wouldn't be so bad.

That's a huge mistake you're making there. Recovery time would be in the years because github is a hub. It became a focal point for a very large amount of activity, losing that hub would be an absolute disaster.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#24

Post by bitsoda »

swillis16 wrote: post #5

Github makes millions of dollars per year and has a huge amount of users so the product is proven good. While I understand the need to be appreciative of Github, giving the organization a bit of user feedback is not going to hurt them very much. The response assumes that this is written because of the "Dear Github" letter.

While GitHub makes millions per year, it's important to keep in mind that "GitHub" and every other company is really just a collection of people like you and me. I'm sure their engineers are paid well, but money isn't everything, and it's nice (and motivating) to show up at the office and know there's people out there who appreciate the work you put in regardless of what you're being paid.

There's nothing wrong with showing gratitude from time to time, even if it's for a for-profit corporation if you truly appreciate what they do.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#25

Post by gkya »

msellout wrote: post #16
gkya wrote: post #11

I find the current situation with Github very unhealthy, because, even though very unlikely, someone can literally pull off the plug of open-source. Not all, but a great part. If such thing happened, be it with government intervention or some crazy attack towards github, it would make us lose a lot time migrating to other solutions. It would be like a Great Barbaric Invasion of Open Source, where everyone migrated to…

The bug tracking data might be tough to replicate, but everything else is stored on each contributor's machine. I think recovery time wouldn't be so bad.

If everyone went to another solution like Bitbucket, yes, it would be quick. But if I were maintaining anything significant, after such event, I'd never consider a private solution again. In Turkish we have a saying, "he whose mouth is burnt by milk, eats yoghurt blowingly".

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#26

Post by mason240 »

carlsborg wrote: post #19

such a letter should include a note of thanks to torvalds for creating git in the first place.

It's kind of ironic of OSS, isn't it?

Someone develops an OSS platform, a corporation monetizes that platform, and it's the corporation that is now receiving all the praise.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#28

Post by caludio »

bitsoda wrote: post #24
swillis16 wrote: post #5

Github makes millions of dollars per year and has a huge amount of users so the product is proven good. While I understand the need to be appreciative of Github, giving the organization a bit of user feedback is not going to hurt them very much. The response assumes that this is written because of the "Dear Github" letter.

While GitHub makes millions per year, it's important to keep in mind that "GitHub" and every other company is really just a collection of people like you and me. I'm sure their engineers are paid well, but money isn't everything, and it's nice (and motivating) to show up at the office and know there's people out there who appreciate the work you put in regardless of what you're being paid. There's nothing wrong with…

Is it important because they're GH or just because some people work there? Because in the latter case, you would have a LOT of letters to write.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#29

Post by cdubzzz »

littletinman wrote: post #20
cdubzzz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm fairly certain that everyone involved in that letter (including myself), is very appreciative of Github and its impact on OSS Well then sign this one too (:

When I read the "Dear GitHub" repo my first thought was, I agree with some of this, but my overall attitude toward GitHub is gratitude and the flexibility to create whatever repo standards you want to. I then saw the "Thank You GitHub" repo and think it's a great way to express that gratitude! I personally do not view these as rival repos. They just express different sentiment and serve two purposes (again not apposi…

> Does this have to be viewed as a polar opposite response to "Dear GitHub"?

Certainly not. My comment was in all seriousness. I expect that pretty much anyone signing the Dear Github letter would also feel comfortable signing this one.

Re: An open letter of gratitude to GitHub

#30

Post by shawn-furyan »

luso_brazilian wrote: post #8

Before 2007, the way to participate in Open Source was fragmented. Each project had their own workflow, patches circulated in emails, issues were reported in a myriad ways, and if anyone wanted to contribute they had to figure out every project's rules. Then, a handful of guys took the challenge to build an awesome platform and as a consequence of their hard work, their platform earned its hegemony. Two things stand…

> 1. While the situation improved tremendously in certain areas the way to participate in Open Source is still very much fragmented. Most of the major open source projects (like Linux, Mozilla, Apache and nginx, to name a few) still have their own workflows, patches are still circulated in emails and issues are still being reported in a myriad ways. Despite of the big visibility GitHub has among the new open source projects we are very far from not being fragmented.

All of the projects that you list began in the pre-Github era where the choices were essentially endure Sourceforge's significant shortcomings or roll your own contribution system (Linux and Apache didn't even have Sourceforge as an option for a long time).

OSS Projects that have begun in the Github era have a much higher probability of having an approachable contribution workflow.

So in short, Github didn't solve all of the chaos in the OSS world, but it has improved the situation going forward from its inception. It's even attracted several legacy projects that previously had more insular and opaque development processes.

Note: this is not to dismiss the issues that do exist with Github. I just don't think that criticism #1 above is very valid.

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