Time to Stop Paying GitHub's Stupid Toll

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I looked at BitBucket a while ago, but didn't care about mercurial and thought GitHub was much more feature-rich. Well, since then, my $100/month to GitHub bought me enough repos, but I was still holding some on my mini-server -- 'cause seriously, I would rather go for dim sum and eat a double order of chicken feet than pay those mercenaries $200/month. That's a Retina MacBook Pro a year in the drink for someone to offer window dressing around an open source project that's been around for almost two decades!

So I just finished setting up on BitBucket. Looks like Atlassian acquired them. Here's my prediction: they are going to get a veritable onslaught of users. Look around: there are a lot of people bitching about the stupid pricing schemes that underlie GitHub. BitBucket prices by user, folks. Did you ever think that idea would seem like a tall glass of iced tea in the middle of a desert? Welcome to the first phase of the Cloud Hangover.

The really nauseating part is that even companies like ATT (the original one) shifted their pricing and fees as they grew their base. GitHub hit one of the great gushers of the last decade (and let's face it, they mainly hit it for reasons that had little do with, um, their actions) and instead of deciding to let its hosts have maybe a pint of blood back, they've added staff like they were commissioned to stop the bubonic plague. The results have been pretty meager. The app (on OS X) is awesome, I like it, but I'm happy to go back to the command line to avoid their usurious toll-taking.

Here's the ultimate reality: when tools make you start doing things differently in your code, you know you've fallen into a tail-wagging-the-dog scenario. I just did a huge refactor on a project where I realized I needed to introduce 5 or 6 more jar projects just to tidy a few things up. Counting out these considerations a coin at a time to your undertakers is worse than serfdom.

I'll post again after I've tried BitBucket for a few days. The reviews look pretty good, and there's a REST API.

(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)

Comments

John Atten replied on Fri, 2012/10/12 - 7:26am

I have been using both Github and Bitbucket for a while now. Granted, my usage is likely much different than yours (I am an enthusiast, working by myself). So far, though, I have been using Bitbucket for my private repos. When I am going to put something up for public consumption, I use Github (mainly because that seems to be where the community is). Bitbucket now works with Git or Hg, and I have only positive things to say about them.

Mike P(Okidoky) replied on Fri, 2012/10/12 - 11:29am

Can't you just get a $20 VPS at Linode or something, and just run it yourself?

Vineet Sinha replied on Fri, 2012/10/12 - 11:31am

Interesting post. I am actually a huge proponent of GitHub, primarily because they are working on the social features which I have been feeling a need for. Which also does suggest that they need to somehow charge per user.

Anyway, loved the last section:

Here's the ultimate reality: when tools make you start doing things differently in your code, you know you've fallen into a tail-wagging-the-dog scenario. I just did a huge refactor on a project where I realized I needed to introduce 5 or 6 more jar projects just to tidy a few things up. Counting out these considerations a coin at a time to your undertakers is worse than serfdom.

User Named Lowell replied on Fri, 2012/10/12 - 12:22pm

Bitbucket (note the capitalization) is a pretty decent service, it has supported Git for a while now, and it's free - all great points, but the main thing it's missing is community. Community is a huge reason GitHub is as big as it is, and Bitbucket isn't ever going to surpass that. I know you think otherwise, but nothing you mentioned is new - just new to you. A lot of people know about Bitbucket, we just don't use it. It's not some super secret service that's going to blow up once it hits the mainstream.

Also, the GitHub app for OS X doesn't require GitHub. You can use any remote you want, you're just limited to one. It's a great app for solo projects, where things won't get too complicated. Use Tower if you're going to use a GUI git client and need more.

Adrian Moreno replied on Fri, 2012/10/12 - 1:45pm in response to: Mike P(Okidoky)

Sure, you could, but most of us don't want to. :)

Saurabh Agrawal replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 8:18am

Yes, there is no reason to pay for github when you can use Bitbucket for private repository. I am using Bitbucket to host my private repository and github for public repo.

Stevie Braga replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 9:16am

Check out the SourceTree app for Mac OS X when using BitBucket! It's pretty nice!

Rico Leuthold replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 9:25am

Not to forget the free Bitbucket app (SourceTree) which is as almost as good as the one from GitHub.

Andrew Ferk replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 9:24am

That's a Retina MacBook Pro a year in the drink for someone to offer window dressing around an open source project that's been around for almost two decades!

Git was initially released in 2005, so it hasn't been around for even eight years.

John Gagliardi replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 10:30am

Host your git repos yourself or find alternative product if you do not like a product. This is a silly post bashing a company trying to make money. I just wasted valuable keystrokes and time reading this bologna...

Ted Young replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 11:50am

OK, so the way Github structures their pricing doesn't work for you. Have you contacted them about it? Otherwise I don't understand why the long post and the need to call it "stupid". Bitbucket's model wouldn't work for people who have a huge number of developers, but only a few repositories: if I have 150 devs and 20 repos, then Github's probably going to work better.

I think the social aspects only apply to public repos, and Github's a no-brainer on that score because public repos are free.

Michael Lockhart replied on Wed, 2012/10/17 - 11:33pm in response to: John Gagliardi

+1 Rob: Opinions - Keep them to yourself. Especially when you haven't really compared yet. Sheesh, how did this drivel wind up in my gmail inbox? Oh, wait - you're sponsored by Microsoft.... hmm.

Jeremie Tarot replied on Thu, 2012/10/18 - 1:11am

Last paragraph is a mantra !

I'll second Mike P(Okydoky), set up your own server (wether @home or hosted, physical or virtual, whatever) and push/sync your code to Github/Bitbucket/Gitorious/Sourceforge (yeah remember ?!).

Be on your own, this is the only path to real Freedom.

Jammer Man replied on Thu, 2012/10/18 - 9:59pm in response to: John Gagliardi

I just wasted valuable time reading your douche comments. The author has a valid point - I didn't see you make one.

Jammer Man replied on Thu, 2012/10/18 - 10:01pm in response to: Michael Lockhart

You should follow your own advice about opinions.

Patrick Holthuizen replied on Sat, 2012/10/20 - 5:22am

As far as I can tell Bitbucket is not bound by US export regulations. That looks like a +1 for Bitbucket.

Lexie Clifton replied on Wed, 2012/11/14 - 1:41am

I am not using GitHub. It's not useful to my christmas songs for kids website. I always wanted to finish my songs for kids coz children in the community wanted to access it.