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GitHub Copilot is now available for free

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Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#251
post #5

I ditched Copilot for Cursor and never looked back. Cursor might be the only other AI product with product market fit than ChatGPT, it's that good

Has anyone who uses an IDE (e.g., JetBrains, not a code editor) moved to Cursor? I've downloaded it a few times because everyone raves about it, but I've always come back almost immediately because editors can't reliably make changes across projects (among many other things)... What am I missing? FWIW I use GoLand w/ Supermaven, currently.

I personally jumped between Rider and Cursor for a while, and finally settled with Rider.

However I think JetBrains should be worrying. I've been using and paying for JetBrains products for many years and Cursor is the only thing making me consider switching from it.

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#252
post #230
post #5

I ditched Copilot for Cursor and never looked back. Cursor might be the only other AI product with product market fit than ChatGPT, it's that good

I don’t get it. Cursor looks to me about the same like VS Code + Copilot. What am i missing?

Copilot is basically just autocomplete for code with a ChatWindow on the side.

Cursor has that, but also other modalities. It also just has a better UX for the core shared experience. Cursor also has their own models they mix with APIs to big well known models.

For example…

1. Cursor’s chat window generates patches (multi line, multi file, non contiguous) that can be directly applied to the file editor with a click, instead of requiring you to copy/paste the chat results. It lets you apply parts of the patches too.

2. Cursor supports multi-line changes (which show up as auto-complete), where the lines aren’t contiguous. For example, if you rename a field in a class, the AI will propose a rename for the Getter/Setter methods, as well as all the uses of said field/method. It’s like all the familiar refactoring tools available in IDEs, but AI powered so it operates “fuzzy matching”

3. Building off 2, they will use AI to move your cursor around (it’s not intrusive).

4. Cursor supports BYO keys for OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, etc. They host their own model which you’d need to pay to access though.

5. They support AI autocomplete and conversation in the command line. Helpful for remembering commands or if you need to change a command to test some change you’d made.

There might be more but this is what sticks out.

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#253

Copilot in VSCode is so far behind Windsurf, not terribly excited about this and still happy to pay for a Codeium pro account. My only fear is someone buying them and screwing up model access, but maybe it’s fine if that is Anthropic. GPT-4 is terrible at coding and o-1 isn’t tell tiene for practical use.

Concur. Dropped Copilot for Cursor and then tried Windsurf. Windsurf is the keeper for me.

This is me too. Windsurf feels perfect right now.

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#254

Any mobile devs here using Copilot, Cursor or Supermaven? I am curious if you have any recommendations.

I found that AI models really have a hard time with Android native, kept reverting to the latest libraries which don't have broad support. I had more success with Flutter but still needs a decent amount of course correction.

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#255

Microsoft would need to pay me to use Copilot. Seems like a major scam for them to learn from our code and then tell us we can’t use it to make our own competing AI systems. “Limits on use of data from the AI Services. You may not use the AI services, or data from the AI services, to create, train, or improve (directly or indirectly) any other AI service.” From https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement#13r_AISer…

[deleted]

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like they're adding Claude in January? https://www.jetbrains.com/legal/docs/terms/jetbrains-ai/serv...

Cool! Seems like they could have commented on that ticket. :)

We just need to make another ticket asking them to comment on this one, then ask HN to upvote it!

Re: GitHub Copilot is now available for free

#259

Microsoft would need to pay me to use Copilot. Seems like a major scam for them to learn from our code and then tell us we can’t use it to make our own competing AI systems. “Limits on use of data from the AI Services. You may not use the AI services, or data from the AI services, to create, train, or improve (directly or indirectly) any other AI service.” From https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement#13r_AISer…

I'm having a hard time determining if my private repo code is used for training their models. The GitHub Copilot VS Code Extension states:

> Your code is yours. We follow responsible practices in accordance with our Privacy Statement to ensure that your code snippets will not be used as suggested code for other users of GitHub Copilot.

IIRC, I think this statement gave me the initial reassurance I needed to use Copilot many months ago, however I feel like this could be deceptively reassuring. Does it mean they can use my code for training and suggestions to other users after changing the variable names?

I tried to dig deeper. The section on "Private repositories" in their Privacy Policy [1] says: "GitHub personnel does not access private repository information without your consent", with exceptions for security, customer support, and legal obligations. Again, this feels deceptively reassuring, since GitHub personnel and GitHub's AI services are separate entities.

In their Privacy Policy, "Code" falls under the definition of "Personal Data" (User Content and Files) [2], and they go on to list lots of broad ways the data can be used and shared.

Unless I've missed anything, and as other commenters have said much more succinctly, I have to assume that there's a real possibility that my private repo code is used to train their models.

[1] https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/gith...

[2] https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/gith...

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