website Changeset - 0d0493568f2e · Conservancy Kallithea

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@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ as we'll continue to update it throughout 2022 and beyond!</p>

the most important ones:

    <ul>

    <li><a href="https://github.com/features/copilot" rel="nofollow">Copilot

    <li><p><a href="https://github.com/features/copilot" rel="nofollow">Copilot

    is a for-profit product</a> &mdash; developed and marketed by Microsoft

    and their GitHub subsidiary &mdash; that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    techniques to automatically generate code interactively for developers.

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@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ the most important ones:

    issues,

    the <a href="https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2022/feb/03/github-copilot-copyleft-gpl/">ethical

    implications of GitHub's choice to use copylefted code</a> in the service

    of creating proprietary software are grave. </li>

        of creating proprietary software are grave.</p> </li>

    <li>In 2020, the community discovered that

    <li><p>In 2020, the community discovered that

GitHub <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/01/ice-contract-github-sparks-developer-protests/604339/">has

a for-profit software services contract with the USA Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (ICE)</a>.  Activists, including some GitHub employees, have been

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@@ -72,18 +72,18 @@ reply has been that their parent company, Microsoft, has sold Microsoft Word

for years to ICE without any public complaints.  They claim that this somehow

justifies <em>even more</em> business with an agency whose policies are

problematic.  Regardless of your views on ICE and its behavior, GitHub's

ongoing <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-06-12/github-ceo-black-lives-matter-employees-demand-end-ice-contract">dismissive and disingenuous</a> responses to the activists who raised this important issue show that GitHub puts its profits above concerns from the community.</li>

        ongoing <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-06-12/github-ceo-black-lives-matter-employees-demand-end-ice-contract">dismissive and disingenuous</a> responses to the activists who raised this important issue show that GitHub puts its profits above concerns from the community.</p></li>

<li>While GitHub pretends to be pro-FOSS

<li><p>While GitHub pretends to be pro-FOSS

  (like <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/17822/">SourceForge before

    them</a>), their entire hosting site is, itself, proprietary and/or

  trade-secret software.  We appreciate that GitHub allows some of its

  employees to sometimes contribute FOSS to upstream projects, but our

  community has been burned so many times before by companies that claim to

  support FOSS, while actively convincing the community to rely on their

  proprietary software.  We won't let GitHub burn us in this same way!</li>

    proprietary software.  We won't let GitHub burn us in this same way!</p></li>

<li>GitHub differs from most of its peers in the FOSS project hosting

<li><p>GitHub differs from most of its peers in the FOSS project hosting

industry, as GitHub does not even offer any self-hosting FOSS option.

Their <em>entire</em> codebase is secret.  For example, while we have our

complaints about GitLab's business model of parallel &ldquo;Community&rdquo:

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@@ -94,17 +94,17 @@ codebase as FOSS for self-hosting and &ldquo;dog fooding&rdquo; by using

their own platform to develop its software in public!  In addition,

non-profit FOSS hosting sites such

as <a href="https://codeberg.org">CodeBerg</a> also develop their platform

  publicly as FOSS.</li>

    publicly as FOSS.</p></li>

<li>GitHub has long sought to discredit copyleft generally.  Their various

<li><p>GitHub has long sought to discredit copyleft generally.  Their various

CEOs have often spoken loudly and negatively about copyleft, including their

founder (and former CEO)

devoting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bAAlPXB2-c">his entire

OSCON keynote on attacking copyleft and the GPL</a>.  There are also examples

of <a href="https://github.com/BenKallos/legislation/issues/2#issue-46911010">GitHub

employees filing bug tickets</a> in copylefted projects to cajole them to

change to non-copyleft licenses.</li>

<li>GitHub is wholly owned by Microsoft, a company whose executives have historically repeatedly attacked copyleft licensing.</li>

    change to non-copyleft licenses.</p></li>

    <li><p>GitHub is wholly owned by Microsoft, a company whose executives have historically repeatedly attacked copyleft licensing.</p></li>

    </ul>

<h2>How Do I Give Up GitHub?</h2>

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@@ -193,22 +193,22 @@ the <a href="https://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/give-up-github">Gi

even while you're still a GitHub user.  (We'll publish longer tutorials in

future about these and other ways to help.)

<ul>

<li><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/SupportGiveUpGitHub-README-snippet.md">Add

<li><p><a href="https://sfconservancy.org/docs/SupportGiveUpGitHub-README-snippet.md">Add

    this section to your README.md</a> to share your concerns about GitHub

  with your users.</li>

  with your users.</p></li>

<li>Respectfully and kindly ask, before you contribute to a project on

<li><p>Respectfully and kindly ask, before you contribute to a project on

  GitHub, if they could provide alternative means to contribute other than

  using GitHub.</li>

    using GitHub.</p></li>

<li>Explain to your employer the dangers of relying on GitHub's proprietary

  vendor lock-in products.</li>

<li><p>Explain to your employer the dangers of relying on GitHub's proprietary

    vendor lock-in products.</p></li>

<li>Join

<li><p>Join

  the <a href="https://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/give-up-github">give-up-github

  mailing list</a> and start threads about your difficulties leaving GitHub.

  This will help us explore solutions with you and add material to this

  page.</li>

    page.</p></li>

</ul>

</p>