4 ms·
Tell HN: GitHub – “This comment has been minimized. Sign in to view”
While browsing this GH issue[1] on my phone I noticed that some comments are collapsed. Apparently GitHub now requires users to be signed in to view them. That's yet another dark pattern employed by yet another webpage. A few days ago I wrote about Reddit[2]. It's really disturbing that the service which is absolutely foundational to the modern open source movement is becoming more and more hostile towards its users.
PS
I know there are alternatives like SourceHut, but unfortunately GitHub and GitLab are the mainstream and probably will continue to be the biggest OSS hosting providers.
1 - https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/20041
2 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33202034
- sneak 4y agoThe way we respond to GitHub’s increasing abuse (as well as continued willing collaboration with those who operate concentration camps in the USA) is to stop using GitHub. Don’t log in, and don’t collaborate on software there. Email users directly.
- Raed667 4y agoFrom the Github docs [0] > Organization moderators, and anyone with write access to a repository, can hide comments on issues, pull requests, and commits. > If a comment is off-topic, outdated, or resolved, you may want to hide a comment to keep a discussion focused [...] [0] https://docs.github.com/en/communities/moderating-comments-and-conversations/managing-disruptive-comments https://docs.github.com/en/communities/moderating-comments-a...
- Brian_K_White 4y agoDoes not explain why there is any difference between a logged-in user and any other for reading.
- Raed667 4y agoEven on HN you have to be logged-in to see dead threads and comments.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y agoYou haven't really explained the reason.
- kichik 4y agoI would guess this helps prevent spam by hiding the spam comments from bots that may index it. Indexing bots aren't usually logged in.
- Raed667 4y agoIndexing would have been my first thought as well, but since I don't work for neither HN or Github, any answer I'd give would be speculation.
- Brian_K_White 4y agoThat would be something that matters to github not to a repo owner. Why would that be a repo owner tool if that were the reason for it? It doesn't add up.
- vipulb334 4y agoWhy don't you and I start a new gitHUB compEetitor..?:-* I'm Saying this only partLy in jest. I have noticed seveRAl similar patterns across other websites and find them absolutely abhorrent. I find the current web can DO much better!:) There's plenty of ROom for expansion.:) There's also something to be said about MSFTT involveMent in the open source moVEment. They have been sedentary so far. ;) And GOOG has takken the leed. -Vipul:)
- 29athrowaway 4y agoGithub, the Internet Explorer of version control
- mellonaut 4y agoIn this case I don’t think it’s as bad as you make it look. Comments are hidden by repo owners because they are off-topic. They might be considered similar to HN [DEAD] comments, which (correct me if I’m wrong) also require an account with showdead on to be viewed.
- noobermin 4y agoDoes gitlab do something similar? Might not be fair to lump them in together.
- brasic 4y agoI work at GitHub. This is not new, and I promise it’s not a dark pattern. As a sibling comment noted, someone with sufficient permissions in this repo used the “minimize” function on these comments. This is normally intended for disruptive or off-topic messages, but ultimately it’s up to the owners of the repository how they make use of our moderation tools. https://docs.github.com/en/communities/moderating-comments-and-conversations/managing-disruptive-comments https://docs.github.com/en/communities/moderating-comments-a... Before I worked here I had no idea how much GitHub invests in platform health. It’s nearly invisible to most users but just like every other part of the internet that draws eyeballs we are under an enormous flood of spam at all times. IMO It’s a testament to how well the system works that many years after this functionality was introduced this is the first time you encountered it.
- noasaservice 4y agoSigh. This is yet more gated content on the hopes someone or something does the right thing. I deleted my account when GH demanded a separate license for everything I had (for that ml crap you made, no less). My answer in dealing with GH is to create fake emails, do the register bullshit, and get what I need, and throw the acct away. I'll save my stuff for my GL instance, or go to sourcehut. Excuses to gatekeep can rightly die in a fire, and let the crucible sort it out.
- b3morales 4y ago> when GH demanded a separate license for everything I had Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean explicitly demanded, or do you just mean the way they asserted that licenses didn't matter for Copilot?
- noasaservice 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13597340 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13597340 This was written about Feb 8 2017, when Github changed their license to require ANY content to be dual-licensed to the following: Solely to allow us to provide the Service and to host the Content you upload to the Website without violating any rights you have in it, you grant GitHub and our successors a nonexclusive, worldwide, transferable, fully-paid and royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, modify, adapt, distribute, and perform the Content in connection with rendering the Website and providing the Service. User:nsqe said they helped write it and said they would "revise it to clear up confusion". Naturally, that was never done. Instead, I would argue that this change was what allowed them to monetize so much open source under various licenses into their own proprietary "forever license". That's what makes Copilot actually doable. And naturally, if you migrated code to GH, then it's your 'fault' for not recognizing that any uploads to GH forever-dual license.
- detaro 4y agoGiving repo owners moderation tools is "really disturbing"?
- Brian_K_White 4y agoTreating logged-in users differently for merely reading is,
- detaro 4y agoIt's the same way HN does it in this case, feels fine to me.
- Brian_K_White 4y agoYou may not mind it, but that doesn't explain what justifies it.