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GitHub takes advantage of open source ideals to build its community...but doesn't open source its own software to give back to the community. It seems a little

by tsm 13y ago

GitHub takes advantage of open source ideals to build its community...but doesn't open source its own software to give back to the community. It seems a little hypocritical. I'd feel much better if GitHub had a useful open source core (like GitLab, or Chromium, or AOSP, or darwin, or...) and then had an Enterprise Edition that had enterprisey features (GitLab's LDAP integration is a great example) and professional support and such.

benesch 13y ago
That's false. GitHub open sources almost all non-essential pieces of their codebase. [0] Notably, grit [1] (git bindings for ruby), gollum [2] (wiki on git), and hubot [3] (chat robot). To ask a company to open source their core, revenue-generating product is a little bit much. The reason Chrome can be open source is because Google Search isn't. [0] https://github.com/github https://github.com/github [1] https://github.com/gollum/gollum https://github.com/gollum/gollum [2] https://github.com/github/hubot https://github.com/github/hubot
- pearjuice 13y ago
  Google Chrome is not open source, you mean Chromium. Chrome is closed source and could contain all sorts of different code found in the Chromium project. Chrome is the Google branded version of Chromium. It is a minor difference but makes a major impact regarding your freedom.
kec 13y ago
Is providing a service to the community not payment enough?
MetaCosm 13y ago
I just wish GitHub Enterprise was a better product. When we did the 45 day trial (18 months ago) -- it was just awful, our repo got corrupted, no root access, had to talk to Github support for them to write us a "script". ugh.
- sanderjd 13y ago
  Counter-anecdote: my company switched from a github.com organization to GitHub Enterprise and it was (is) fantastic. No corruption, great support, easy to manage, surprisingly fast upgrade cycle, etc. Not trying to downplay the problems you seem to have had, just don't want to see the classic "complaints when things go wrong, silence when things go right" pattern with a product that I think is really great.

by tsm 13y ago

benesch 13y ago

That's false. GitHub open sources almost all non-essential pieces of their codebase. [0] Notably, grit [1] (git bindings for ruby), gollum [2] (wiki on git), and hubot [3] (chat robot). To ask a company to open source their core, revenue-generating product is a little bit much. The reason Chrome can be open source is because Google Search isn't. [0] https://github.com/github https://github.com/github [1] https://github.com/gollum/gollum https://github.com/gollum/gollum [2] https://github.com/github/hubot https://github.com/github/hubot

pearjuice 13y ago
Google Chrome is not open source, you mean Chromium. Chrome is closed source and could contain all sorts of different code found in the Chromium project. Chrome is the Google branded version of Chromium. It is a minor difference but makes a major impact regarding your freedom.

kec 13y ago

Is providing a service to the community not payment enough?

MetaCosm 13y ago

I just wish GitHub Enterprise was a better product. When we did the 45 day trial (18 months ago) -- it was just awful, our repo got corrupted, no root access, had to talk to Github support for them to write us a "script". ugh.

sanderjd 13y ago
Counter-anecdote: my company switched from a github.com organization to GitHub Enterprise and it was (is) fantastic. No corruption, great support, easy to manage, surprisingly fast upgrade cycle, etc. Not trying to downplay the problems you seem to have had, just don't want to see the classic "complaints when things go wrong, silence when things go right" pattern with a product that I think is really great.