Private Repos Coming to a Website Near You
Chances are you’re familiar with GitHub, the web-based hosting service for version control. It’s where many developers go to save their code online or share it with others. While GitHub is free to use, if you wanted more privacy then that cost money. At least it used to!
Free Private Repos:
Earlier this week GitHub underwent a change. Users are now allowed to host as many private repositories as they want. A dramatic change considering this feature used to cost $7 a month. Private repos are free to use with up to three collaborators, and public repos still allow for unlimited collaborators.
The number of collaborators is the only real limitation on private repos, and the change is aimed at improving the version control experience for smaller fish in the development pool. The idea being that if you’re on a small team or an individual you won’t have to pay the fees larger companies do. 
GitHub’s Going Through Changes:
GitHub has been making headlines a lot in the past few months. In October Microsoft completed their $7.5 billion acquisition of it. In November of 2018 GitHub passed 100 million repositories (and that number could sky rocket now that anyone can utilize private repos for free).
A number of pricing changes have come along with free repos, but this is the most noteworthy for individual developers. Originally called GitHub Developer, the $7/month plan has been rebranded to GitHub Pro. The company also offered GitHub Enterprise and GitHub Business Cloud for $21 each and has now consolidated them into one $42/month subscription.
Moving Forward:
It’s worth noting that these changes bring GitHub more in line with other version control services like Bitbucket and GitLab. The former allows unlimited private repos with up to five collaborators, and the latter has no limit.
This is definitely a plus for GitHub users like myself, but it by no means that public repos will come to an end. The development community thrives on open source technology. That being said having options is certainly nice. What are your thoughts on Microsoft making private repos free? Let us know in the comments below!
It’s definitely going to bring an advantage to the smaller independent developers that use GitHub. Personally, I’ve found some of the best programs weren’t written by huge teams of Indian hackers, but are written by independent devs. I’m anxious to see the gems yet to be discovered, as far as the private repos being made public. Unfortunately, it seems like most devs are abandoning ship, or at least what they percieve as a sinking ship now that Microsoft owns GitHub. Myself, I like transparency, and that is my main use for GitHub, and I still, and will continue, to use it.