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Please link to all these quality Github alternatives? I haven't seen anything which comes close.

by smiler 14y ago

njs12345 14y ago
I think it depends on your use case but Bitbucket is pretty close for simple usage. Of course, it's missing the network effects which make GH so compelling. Having said that, switching costs are low because of the distributed nature of Git. Not sure what would happen if something genuinely better came along.
- kristianc 14y ago
  Churn for enterprise software like GitHub tends to be very low - once it becomes embedded in the workflow of BigCorp its not trivial to change that overnight. If something genuinely better comes along, the network effects would still be a huge source of inertia given the FUD around switching.
- bad_user 14y ago
  switching costs are low because of the distributed nature of Git Switching costs from Google's search engine are low, because all it takes is to enter the URL of an alternative search engine. And nothing has shaken it, not even when this process is helped by the distribution network, like making Bing the default on Windows. Lock-in is not measured only in regards to the potential switching costs. Lock-in is also possible by providing the best possible service. Along with real network effects (people recommending your service to other people) then the global lock-in becomes inescapable, even if the theoretical switching costs are low. And quite the contrary, GitHub locks people in simply because most developers have a GitHub account. People use GitHub these days to put their portfolio on display. And I've worked with a couple of companies that manage their projects on GitHub and it was a pretty painless process to send me an invitation for joining their private repos. Even Linux is mirrored on GitHub and even Linus Tolvards has a GitHub account. GitHub is not only a really good Git hosting service, but in case you haven't noticed, it's also a vertical social-network built for developers. And their service keeps improving by leaps and bounds, compared to their competitors, which are merely followers. I'm so happy with GitHub that even though I can have as many private projects as I want on Bitbucket, I still pay GitHub for the privilege to have private projects. Yes, something better can always come along. But just as Google did for search engines, with GitHub around it's pretty hard to build something better. And this to me is the best possible kind of lock-in and the sign of a thriving and growing company: the product being popular, not because it's forcing users, but because it's simply the best.
  - fusiongyro 14y ago
    Linux was dependent on BitKeeper for about three years. Git was written from scratch and hosting Linux in a period of three months. Linus's use of a technology he didn't create is closer to a death knell than an endorsement. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub? Obviously, the answer is different for different people, and there are good reasons to support and use Github and good reasons to invest in it. That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. Github is a decent medium-term bet, but Pinterest is a much better lottery ticket.
    - bad_user 14y ago
      Git is popular because of Linus's excellence and marketing skills. And yeah, it took three months, but it took a lot longer for it to became popular and it was helped by Linus' endorsement. The comparison of BitKeeper to Git is not fair - you should compare it with Perforce instead. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub I never liked MySpace or SourceForge, so if I had the option in front of me, I would have passed even at the peak of their popularity. This is the criteria after which I judge companies: (+) is the product solving a real problem for me? (yes) (+) are they a sustainable, profit-generating business yet? (yes) (+) is the product forcing users to remain customers? (no) (+) are they smart and hard-working enough to adapt to new market conditions? (yes) (+) do they still have growth potential? (yes, because GitHub is lately a social network for professional developers, being preferred over LinkedIn by many) That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. My point wasn't about loyalty. Developers tend to use the best tool for the job. I still use Google's search engine, even though alternatives are available, because Google still gives me the best results. And this creates a cycle - because I use Google and I optimize my websites for Google and because I use Google's Analytics and the Webmasters tool, Google gets more data with which it can optimize my results better than anybody else can. The same goes for GitHub. Even if I stopped being a GitHub customer, I would still go to GitHub because most popular projects are managed on GitHub or have a mirror there. Popularity in turn helps GitHub get valuable feedback, which it can use to further improve my experience, which in turn makes me a happier customer and so on.
- bradfa 14y ago
  Bitbucket, as of the end of 2011, didn't have any concept of a "company account" like GitHub's organizations. From their pricing pages, it looks like they still don't. That's why my company pays for hosted JIRA and uses GitHub, we would much rather pay the lower costs for Bitbucket and keep everything with Atlassian, but the organizations feature on GitHub won us over (we currently have about 30 private repos and 12 users).

Please link to all these quality Github alternatives? I haven't seen anything which comes close.

by smiler 14y ago

Please link to all these quality Github alternatives? I haven't seen anything which comes close.

I think it depends on your use case but Bitbucket is pretty close for simple usage. Of course, it's missing the network effects which make GH so compelling. Having said that, switching costs are low because of the distributed nature of Git. Not sure what would happen if something genuinely better came along.

kristianc 14y ago
Churn for enterprise software like GitHub tends to be very low - once it becomes embedded in the workflow of BigCorp its not trivial to change that overnight. If something genuinely better comes along, the network effects would still be a huge source of inertia given the FUD around switching.
bad_user 14y ago
switching costs are low because of the distributed nature of Git Switching costs from Google's search engine are low, because all it takes is to enter the URL of an alternative search engine. And nothing has shaken it, not even when this process is helped by the distribution network, like making Bing the default on Windows. Lock-in is not measured only in regards to the potential switching costs. Lock-in is also possible by providing the best possible service. Along with real network effects (people recommending your service to other people) then the global lock-in becomes inescapable, even if the theoretical switching costs are low. And quite the contrary, GitHub locks people in simply because most developers have a GitHub account. People use GitHub these days to put their portfolio on display. And I've worked with a couple of companies that manage their projects on GitHub and it was a pretty painless process to send me an invitation for joining their private repos. Even Linux is mirrored on GitHub and even Linus Tolvards has a GitHub account. GitHub is not only a really good Git hosting service, but in case you haven't noticed, it's also a vertical social-network built for developers. And their service keeps improving by leaps and bounds, compared to their competitors, which are merely followers. I'm so happy with GitHub that even though I can have as many private projects as I want on Bitbucket, I still pay GitHub for the privilege to have private projects. Yes, something better can always come along. But just as Google did for search engines, with GitHub around it's pretty hard to build something better. And this to me is the best possible kind of lock-in and the sign of a thriving and growing company: the product being popular, not because it's forcing users, but because it's simply the best.
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  Linux was dependent on BitKeeper for about three years. Git was written from scratch and hosting Linux in a period of three months. Linus's use of a technology he didn't create is closer to a death knell than an endorsement. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub? Obviously, the answer is different for different people, and there are good reasons to support and use Github and good reasons to invest in it. That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. Github is a decent medium-term bet, but Pinterest is a much better lottery ticket.
  - bad_user 14y ago
    Git is popular because of Linus's excellence and marketing skills. And yeah, it took three months, but it took a lot longer for it to became popular and it was helped by Linus' endorsement. The comparison of BitKeeper to Git is not fair - you should compare it with Perforce instead. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub I never liked MySpace or SourceForge, so if I had the option in front of me, I would have passed even at the peak of their popularity. This is the criteria after which I judge companies: (+) is the product solving a real problem for me? (yes) (+) are they a sustainable, profit-generating business yet? (yes) (+) is the product forcing users to remain customers? (no) (+) are they smart and hard-working enough to adapt to new market conditions? (yes) (+) do they still have growth potential? (yes, because GitHub is lately a social network for professional developers, being preferred over LinkedIn by many) That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. My point wasn't about loyalty. Developers tend to use the best tool for the job. I still use Google's search engine, even though alternatives are available, because Google still gives me the best results. And this creates a cycle - because I use Google and I optimize my websites for Google and because I use Google's Analytics and the Webmasters tool, Google gets more data with which it can optimize my results better than anybody else can. The same goes for GitHub. Even if I stopped being a GitHub customer, I would still go to GitHub because most popular projects are managed on GitHub or have a mirror there. Popularity in turn helps GitHub get valuable feedback, which it can use to further improve my experience, which in turn makes me a happier customer and so on.
bradfa 14y ago
Bitbucket, as of the end of 2011, didn't have any concept of a "company account" like GitHub's organizations. From their pricing pages, it looks like they still don't. That's why my company pays for hosted JIRA and uses GitHub, we would much rather pay the lower costs for Bitbucket and keep everything with Atlassian, but the organizations feature on GitHub won us over (we currently have about 30 private repos and 12 users).