`I think I'm the only way that sees this decision was done for commercial reasons ($)...` Is it fair for me to expand "for commercial reasons" as: Github is a

`I think I'm the only way that sees this decision was done for commercial reasons ($)...` Is it fair for me to expand "for commercial reasons" as: Github is a for-profit business, and their business model is to provide a service to users and that also requires them to be able to turn that service off when customers stop paying. `... and has nothing to do with people "maintaining control of their private repo."` I disagree here, I think you're using a notion of "control" that is too narrow. A notion that captures the scope better would be that Github is adding value by enabling project management and collaboration. The ability to do pull requests, manage issues, etc. is all tied to forking. That's what makes their service worth paying for, and it's also what they have to turn off if you don't want to pay. `That's all I care about, Github working like Git, in most major ways.` What you're saying here is reasonable enough I expect you can find providers that are pretty close to that standard, and it's a fair point that Github's business model has some sharp edges. In this case, it's a consequence of "we turn the lights off if you don't pay," and an alternative has to deal with the same bottom line.