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> I can't really see how github could ever lock in their customers Really? It's easy: Add an additional service that doesn't store its data in git repositories

by sho_hn 15y ago

> I can't really see how github could ever lock in their customers Really? It's easy: Add an additional service that doesn't store its data in git repositories and doesn't allow for that data to be exported easily. Then make it enticing by integrating it really well with the stuff you're already using. Now you're going to think twice about migrating away, because suddenly it's hard. Not like it's rocket science, and it happens all the time when companies find themselves in a corner (obviously we're talking a hypothetic scenario here). Heck, it even happens with initial good intentions on all sides, because a well-integrated add-on may be a lovely thing by itself. I really don't want to be panicmongering, but if you "can't really see a way" you're not cynical enough. Don't stop thinking at "it's a DSCM, we'll be safe". You're not using git, you're using GitHub. That's why you're there, right?

mryan 15y ago
That's a good point. My comment to the parent just reflects my (rather limited) use case for git - off-site storage for git repos. If you use other Github-specific features like Issues, it does indeed become more difficult to switch.
deleted 15y ago
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flixic 15y ago
GitHub Issues. Pull Requests (and their comments). And so on. How do you migrate this data? There's ALREADY some lock-in.
- sho_hn 15y ago
  Well, to be fair, I think pulling out Issues is quite doable via the API right now. Like I said, I'm not after panicmongering; I just advocate a healthy dose of critical thinking. As in, did you check you could pull out Issues via the API before comitting to the service, and did you make sure the service vendor is committed to offering that API going forward? If you're actually on a paid plan, if you actually intend to make your livelyhood depend on the vendor, do you have any hard guarantees on that in the contact? And so on. FWIW, I was involved with putting together the git hosting infrastructure used by the KDE community (which I wrote about at length here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2972107 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2972107), which incidentally was done only after negotiations with Shortcut AS - then the company behind GitHub competitor Gitorious.org - fell through, since we couldn't come to an agreement acceptable to both sides. Things like data export guarantees were part of our goals back then. And there's more data you want to be able to export than you might think, too. For example, if you actually let accounts push directly to your repository, you very likely want to have logs of what account was used to push what data for liability reasons - that's data that's not in the repo, because push != commit. Rather, it's data coming from the infrastructure that handles authentication for you.

by sho_hn 15y ago

mryan 15y ago

That's a good point. My comment to the parent just reflects my (rather limited) use case for git - off-site storage for git repos. If you use other Github-specific features like Issues, it does indeed become more difficult to switch.

deleted 15y ago

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flixic 15y ago

GitHub Issues. Pull Requests (and their comments). And so on. How do you migrate this data? There's ALREADY some lock-in.

sho_hn 15y ago
Well, to be fair, I think pulling out Issues is quite doable via the API right now. Like I said, I'm not after panicmongering; I just advocate a healthy dose of critical thinking. As in, did you check you could pull out Issues via the API before comitting to the service, and did you make sure the service vendor is committed to offering that API going forward? If you're actually on a paid plan, if you actually intend to make your livelyhood depend on the vendor, do you have any hard guarantees on that in the contact? And so on. FWIW, I was involved with putting together the git hosting infrastructure used by the KDE community (which I wrote about at length here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2972107 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2972107), which incidentally was done only after negotiations with Shortcut AS - then the company behind GitHub competitor Gitorious.org - fell through, since we couldn't come to an agreement acceptable to both sides. Things like data export guarantees were part of our goals back then. And there's more data you want to be able to export than you might think, too. For example, if you actually let accounts push directly to your repository, you very likely want to have logs of what account was used to push what data for liability reasons - that's data that's not in the repo, because push != commit. Rather, it's data coming from the infrastructure that handles authentication for you.